Opinion ID: 3153469
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Establishing East Health Center

Text: Adelard LeFrancois testified that he began working at a pain management company–Palm Beach Pain and Rejuvenation, in Boca Raton, Florida–in the fall of 2009. Patients would travel to Palm Beach Pain and Rejuvenation from out-ofstate, present a recent magnetic resonance image (“MRI”), and then receive a basic physical examination followed by prescriptions for oxycodone, Percocet, Xanax, and/or Valium. Palm Beach Pain and Rejuvenation had only basic medical supplies and did not accept insurance. It did nothing other than dispense controlled substances. LeFrancois stated that, until October 2010, clinics in Florida could dispense 28 days’ worth of medication at one time. In October 2010, Florida changed its laws so that medical providers could not dispense more than 72 hours’ worth of medication unless they had medical malpractice insurance. Because Palm Beach Pain and Rejuvenation did not carry insurance, it started losing business, as it could no longer attract out-of-state patients who did not want to travel for only 72 hours’ worth of pills. Accordingly, LeFrancois decided that he would open his own clinic in Georgia, where the laws were less restrictive. LeFrancois recruited several of his Florida coworkers, including Lizama, Carreras, Wise, Clark, Morford, Frankie Barbuscia, and Konstantinos Afthinos, to 4 Case: 14-13703 Date Filed: 11/10/2015 Page: 5 of 60 come with him to open a new pain management clinic in Georgia. Some of the employees–Wise, Morford, and Afthinos–rented a house together in Georgia. LeFrancois then established East Health Center in Garden City, Georgia, and placed an advertisement on Craigslist to recruit a doctor.