Dr. James H Johnson JR., MD

Dr.Johnson's diagnosis technique and his medical integrity are questionable. I will not recommend this doctor to any parents who seek help for their children. One and a half years ago, my then 4,5 years old grandson was seen by Dr.J over my daughter’s concern about her child’s behavior. She said that he was often restless, had a lot of energy, and had "too vivid personality". Without any test and further observation, Dr.J. concluded my grandson's condition and immediately prescribed an adult dose of ADHD medication. Over this time, my grandson's personality has changed for the worse. Now he has no interest in his usual activities, his appetite went down, and he complains of headaches and brain fog. Moreover, any intense physical activity brings my grandson’s heartbeats immediately so high that he gets dizzy and needs to rest. There were no blood tests or any other tests before administering meds to know any medical conditions that might increase these medications' side effects.… Till now, there are no tests done to see how these meds affect his general health. My grandson's father recently raised a concern that his medication affects his personality and intellectual abilities. He says his son is not like he used to be. He is not very happy, doesn't like sports anymore, not singing or dancing as he used to, sometimes aggressive, and has no interest in creative activities. He asked me to go with him to Dr.J's office to find out why his son was given the medication and what steps were taken to make a diagnosis. When we came inside the office with our masks on, we noticed that the office staff was not wearing any COVID-19 protection. Dr.J expressed a light feeling towards wearing a mask and didn’t put on one after we asked about the COVID-19 safety policy. The lobby was unclean, the children's toys were all over the place. Tiny Dr.J's office had toys scattered around and did not allow any social distancing, especially with the doctor without a mask. We asked Dr.J what steps were taken to diagnose my grandson with ADHD. Suddenly Dr.J became hostile, aggressive and overprotective of his level of expertise. He directed his anger at me, threatened to call the police, and "throw me" out of his office. When my grandson's dad tried to reason and emphasized the concern about the child's health, cognitive and physical development based on the child's complaints and observations, Dr.J began screaming at me in front of my grandson and his dad. I had to get up and leave the office not to escalate the situation. Working as an educator for 30 years, I know there is a protocol for confirming the diagnosis, and other people from closest to the child's environment have to provide the observations(i.e, Speech Therapist, Kindergarten Teacher, ext) We were not asked to provide input! Dr.J misled my daughter and assured her that his knowledge and child's neurologist expertise is sufficient not to follow the protocol requirements of ADHD diagnosis, not provided her with other options, and immediately prescribed the adult dose of medication to the 4.5 years old child. My daughter totally relies on what he says and would not listen to my concerns about our boy's health and development. When my grandson's father asked about Dr. Johnson's opinion on stopping medication use, Dr.J's response was, "if you want, you can do it. It is fine with me," and he did not express any concern on how the ADHD diagnosis would be addressed. When the dad pointed out that the correct protocol was not followed to diagnose the boy, Dr.J said, "If you want to do it, I know few doctors who can do it, but it will cost you a lot of money." Of course, we are going to do further formal testing and hopefully, we will find a doctor who follows the diagnostic protocol and develops a comprehensive plan if treatment is needed.

My son was referred to the closest neurologist that accepted his insurance. Upon entering his office there is 1 other individual that works there, an older woman. I overheard him speaking to her in regards to another patient and if they recieved payment. Dr. James Johnson then walked around from his receptionist and greeted us. His office was empty (the other reviews are not lying there that's for sure). He brought us to a room with a camera posted in the corner of the room, sat down and said how can I help you. We explained to him that we think we might be ready to try medication but have been apprehensive and in the past have turned down controlled substances as I did not feel it was a good idea at his age. He did not do an exam or order any tests, just sat at his computer typing away cutting me off. (Poor bedside manner). We were in and out in a grand total of15 minutes and we're handed 2 prescriptions. He told me the names of them and what they would help with. I get to the… Pharmacy that afternoon and am asked to present my ID to pick up the medication. I inquired as to why. The pharmacist said 'he didn't explain to you what this is?' I said I'm no what is it? He said it's a controlled substance and highly addictive short acting ADHD medication. I was floored... It was already 6 pm so I took the presription, headed home and began doing more research. The pharmacist was right! The next morning I called his office and spoke to his only employee the receptionist and calmly explained to her that I would not be giving my son this prescription as it is a controlled substance, short lasting and addictive. Her tone changed as she said ok well you can speak to him at the next appt. I said, no I just need to know if there is a less invasive route as I will not ever put my son on something he would have to detox off of and has long-term side effects such as weakened heart. I heard him in the background say "NO". I said I'm sorry I didn't know I was on speaker. She said "no one else is in the office". I said "yes he's on speaker with us right now. May I speak to him?" The phone got silent and she passed him the phone. He answered and angrily said "I heard everything, I told you yesterday what this prescription was." I said sir it hasn't even been 24 hours no you did not tell me what this prescription was or I would have never left your office with it. I then asked him if he was mad. He said I'm upset because I told you that yesterday. I said but there's no reason to be upset. It's just a prescription I'm not interested in giving my son now that I know the side effects and that it's addicting and controlled substance. He said "well I guess you can find another Dr." . Needless to say, I cancelled the 2nd appointment. Heads up to you and your secretary buddy, if you're reading this. I used to work in medical billing and coding for years.... If you try to bill that claim as a full work up exam I will not only appeal the claim, but I will file a former complaint with the insurance commissioner. Got that? My son deserved better than you and I did not deserve to be spoken to like you did not feel like my opinion of controlled substances didn't matter. All of these kids deserved better than you!

My twin sons saw Dr James Johnson Jr. I have seen that he had poor rating but was hoping that we have a different experience. No such luck. It is clear that this doctor cares about money more than about the kids he sees. His office is always empty, no patients are waiting, and for good reasons. One of my son had 5-6 appointments with Dr Johnson, and each lasted about 5 min. While I was bringing my concerns to him, he rushed me by saying: “So let’s leave everything the same?” In 6 months he saw my son he never performed a neurological exam. Yet, he billed level 5 for each appointment which is an insurance fraud, and scheduled follow up in 4 weeks. All medications were prescribed for 1 month only with no refills. My other son who had an extensive workup in Miami prior to us moving to Sarasota already had his medication and dosage optimized. Dr Johnson prescribed the same without any testing but wanted us to come back in 4 weeks for another Rx. After that I switched to… Pediatric Neurology Associates and highly recommend them. They come to Sarasota office on Tuesdays. We were never rushed, Dr asked a lot of questions, my sons were weighed, examined and got EEG on our first appointment, and got all prescriptions with 5 refills! Dr Johnson does not have a lot of patients and tries to compensate it by having his patients see him every month, whether the patients need it or not. If you want to see him frequently with no wait, he might work for you, but if you do not want to pull your child out of school for the appointments and pay the bill every month, look elsewhere.

Apparently the only patients Dr Johnson will help are those that pay without incident. Any changes in insurance and the his bedside manner becomes effected. I have had to deal with refusal to submit our records. Refusal to submit professional opinion without requiring a very substantial fee for him to testify on behalf of his patient. I had a very high opinion of him for many years till my family sustained financial difficulties. I did not see an ounce of compassion on the contrary I saw adding insult to injury! I will pray for him, I will forgive him. I know he isn't perfect it just would be nice if he could see that greed destroys the soul!

My child has been going to this doctor since 2008/09. All of a sudden there was a change in the insurance she has. The insurance would no longer pay this doctor for her visits. My daughter now has appointment with All Children's in St Petersburg for a few test and visit a new Nero in only 8 days. My daughter has ran out of her meds. He prescribed two different medications for her. Yes he gave me one and a half refills on one. I appreciated that to the fullest I thank God for that. I thought I had one more refill on the most important med he prescribed for her. The one she has to take twice a day (Respadone). Realized I dont. I call the office to see if he would at least order ONLY 8 days supply refill for her. He refused to do so. ONLY 8 DAYS. You've gotta be kidding me. I was a little upset. All i could do is pray. I know what my child goes threw when she's off this type of meds. It's not my nor my daughters fault the insurance company felt they no longer wanted to accept his… business. At All Childrens I'm sure she will get the best care that's needed there. I've read all the reviews on this site I also agree with a lot of the reviews. The one and only thing I'm going to say (even though my daughter is acting out because she is off her meds Dr. Johnson REFUSED to order her ONLY a 8 day supply of her meds so she can be in control,calm and not harm herself) I will pray for him. May God bless his soul. It just amazes me how a doctor would not care about a well being of a long time patient he has been seeing for 7/8 years. The insurance changed we can't help that. We had to take the soonest avaliable appointment they had. May God BLESS your soul Dr. Johnson I won't give any stars.

Have been taking my daughter here for 10 years and never have had a single issue. Could not be more pleased with Dr. Johnson and his staff.

SINCE MY GRANDSON'S BIRTH , 19 YEARS AGO , HE HAS PROVIDED EXCELLENT CARE, I WOULD RECOMMEND HIM TO ANYONE IN NEED OF HIS SPECIALTY .

VERY VERY VERY RUDE

A real jerk face.

My son has seen him several years and he had bad side affects from taking concerts and ended up in the emergency room. when we went to see him about changing his medication he said he would have cleared by cardiologist before he could give him any medication and for to stop taking the concerta. He did not care what would happen by stopping medication suddenly and that it take some time see a cardiologist and that he would not be able to function in school. It is very dangerous to stop this kind of medicine suddenly but he did not care. Very rude. He never has any patients in his office when we go there now I can see why.