St. Petersburg Criminal Attorney and Former State Prosecutor Melinda Morris of the Morris Law Firm discusses the recent case of a Tampa doctor accused of Prescription Drug Trafficking and how this case could open the door to other physicians being prosecuted.
Issue:
A Tampa doctor was recently charged with Drug Trafficking after an undercover investigation by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office where detectives were prescribed enough prescription drugs to be considered Trafficking.
At the heart of this case, the first of its kind in Hillsborough County, is the question of whether or not Dr. John Mubang acted in “bad faith” –or in other words, did not give the proper level of medical care to ensure that the patients truly needed the drugs before prescribing them. In Florida, medical doctors are legally allowed to prescribe controlled substances, thus the prosecution must prove “bad faith” to convict the doctor of Drug Trafficking.
Why This Matters To You:
Medical doctors are not frequently charged with Drug Trafficking or Prescription Drug Trafficking as they are legally allowed to prescribe controlled substances. This case opens up the possibility that law enforcement may prosecute Florida physicians based on the subjective criteria of acting in “bad faith.”
If you are a Tampa Bay medical doctor, this case is significant in that it opens the possibility that you may be prosecuted for prescribing prescription drugs as a physician. The prosecution in this instance hung their case loosely on the concept of the physician acting in bad faith, highly subjective opinions on the level of care provided, and most troubling, facts that only the doctor himself could know – his firsthand observations of the patients, his interpretations of their symptoms and examinations, and his medical opinion of how to best treat them.
The case against Dr. Mubang was declared a mistrial as the result of a hung jury that was significantly in favor of the defendant. The prosecution will now have to decide whether or not to further pursue the case.
What To Do Next:
If you have been arrested for Drug Trafficking or Prescription Drug Trafficking, contact a St. Petersburg Prescription Drug Trafficking Attorney to discuss possible defenses and specific strategies that may exist in your case. Call the Morris Law Firm at 727-388-4736 to discuss your case directly with an attorney, or fill out our Online Form to be contacted for a Free Initial Consultation. The Morris Law Firm can help and has specific knowledge and experience in defending Drug Trafficking or Prescription Drug Trafficking offenders throughout Pinellas County and the entire Tampa Bay, FL Area (St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Tampa, Hillsborough, Pasco, Bradenton, Manatee, and Sarasota).
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