DOCTOR CHARGED WITH DRUG TRAFFICKING

Patients Praise Him For 'Excellent' Service

TAMPA - Law enforcement agents burst Into a Seffner clinic run by
the former medical director of the Hillsborough County Jail on
Wednesday afternoon and charged the doctor with drug
trafficking.

Patients of John N. Mubang said investigators read a list of names of
people who died of overdoses from prescriptions written by Mubang, who
was handcuffed as his startled patients were questioned by law
enforcement officers.

Mubang, 57, was charged with three counts Of prescribing drugs for
monetary gain and one count of trafficking in controlled substances,
according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The arrest followed a six-month investigation that started after the
Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office received complaints from several
people, according to the FDLE. The investigation showed that Mubang
provided controlled substances to patients without a medical necessity.

Investigators from the sheriffs office, FDLE and the Drug Enforcement
Administration descended on the office about 4 p.m.

"I was just in here to see a doctor for the first time and I was in
the waiting room, and men I just seen the green team run in with masks
and guns and everything," said one patient, Allyn Morsn of Seffner.
"Then they interviewed us about drugs. I heard them read a list of how
many people are deceased from him selling... drugs to them.... I guess
he's in pretty big trouble."

"They just came in and told us all to stay still and not to leave,"
said another patient, Helen Burgess. "They would be back in a little
while to ask us questions. ...They just asked us how long we've been
coming here and what types of medications we get from this doctor."
Burgess said she's been seeing Mubang for 20 years. "He's a very good
doctor," She said.

Another patient, Leah Ciccone-Bridges, was outraged about the raid.
"He's a good doctor," she said, "He Just wrote me prescriptions. ... I
have my MRIs. I have back X-rays. So everything In my file is legit."

She said she thinks the investigators were invading the patients'
privacy. "They're going through our files. They're not letting us be
seen as patients. They just bombarded the place."

Doctor Praised As Dedicated, Caring

Another patient praised Mubang. "Doctor John Mubang is an excellent,
excellent doctor, very caring," said Kevin Farfan. "My wife went in
and out of the hospital several times for surgery and we have seen him
working all hours of the morning. Whenever there's been a problem,
he's come to our aid"

Mubang served as the medical director of the jail when Tennessee-based
Prison Health Services was the facility's medical provider. Mubang
also worked for Prison Health Services' predecessor, Correctional
Medical Services.

It was unclear exactly when Mubang resigned, but Prison Health
Services was the county's inmate medical provider for three years
until October 2005.

Mubang specializes in internal and ambulatory medicine and has about
1,000 patients at his practice, according to testimony he gave in a
deposition in 2006.

A Tampa Tribune examination of records at the Hillsborough County
Medical Examiner's Office found two people overdosed on prescriptions
written by Mubang in 2006.

Denise Sims, 42, died Jan. 18, 2006, of the combined effects of
alprazolam and oxycodone, according to medical examiner records.
Investigators found both medications prescribed by Mubang a week earlier.

Carl Hyder, 21, died July 8, 2006, of the combined effects of alcohol,
hydrocodone and alprazolam, according to medical examiner records.
Investigators found drugs prescribed by Mubang two days earlier:
hydrocodone and alprazolam, as well as carisoprodol; a muscle relaxant
marketed under the brand name Soma. Most of the pills in the bottles
had been consumed, according to medical examiner records.

Mother Feels 'Some Kind Of Peace'

When contacted by a sheriffs deputy about Hyder's death, Mubang didn't
know Hyder was his patient, according to a sheriff's investigation
report. Mubang "asked what medications was Carl Hyder on and after
hearing what he had prescribed for his patient, he stated that he must
have died from hypertension or a stroke," the report states.

Hyder's mother, Tammy, was outside Mubang's office Wednesday
afternoon, her eyes brimming with tears. She held the last photo taken
of her son, when he caught the garter at his brother's wedding.

"He died in his sleep," she said, "He got custody of his children
Friday and on Saturday morning, he was gone."

Asked her reaction to Mubang's arrest, she said, "I feel some kind of
peace."

News Channel 8 reporter Krista Klaus and photojournalist Jim Webb
contributed to this report.