Florida Can Enforce Law Outlawing Doctors’ Noncompete Contracts

A new Florida law voiding noncompete agreements between medical specialists and their employers likely doesn’t unlawfully interfere with private contracts, the Northern District of Florida said.

The law likely weakens employers’ contracts with their physician employees, but its significant, legitimate public purposes outweigh any possible impairment, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida said Aug. 21. The Florida legislature adopted the law after finding it would help reduce health-care costs and improve patients’ access to physicians.

The court refused to block the state from enforcing the law, saying the physician group that challenged it wasn’t likely to ...