Pubdate: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 Source: Port St. Lucie Tribune (FL) Copyright: 2002 The E.W. Scripps Co. Contact: http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/tribune Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2049 Author: Mark Pollio LUYAO CHARGED IN 4 DEATHS FORT PIERCE -- A Port St. Lucie doctor previously charged with providing potentially lethal doses of OxyContin to patients was charged Monday with four counts of manslaughter. The State Attorney's Office charged Dr. Asuncion Luyao, 60, with 12 counts of trafficking OxyContin, 4 counts of manslaughter and one count of continuing criminal enterprise. Twelve patients under Luyao's care died of suspicious causes, according to a medical examiner's report. The manslaughter charges filed Monday are tied to the deaths of Janice Byers, Robert Gustaf, Julia Hartsfield and Tina Smith. All four died in 2001 -- Byers on Nov. 17; Gustaf on Oct. 29; Hartsfield on June 12 and Smith on July 13. Luyao turned herself in at the St. Lucie County Jail shortly before 11 a.m. on Monday, and walked out within minutes of being booked. She spent 49 days in jail after her first arrest March 26 and her bond did not change despite the manslaughter charges. Prosecutors said the original $455,000 bond took into account the possibility of the additional manslaughter charges. Luyao was arraigned on all 17 counts in court. Circuit Court Judge Dwight Geiger entered not guilty pleas for Luyao on all counts. "These four charges were appropriate to file at this time," Tom Bakkedahl, assistant state attorney. said. "We took our time because we wanted to provide her with every benefit of the doubt. These new charges are based on the strength of proof." Bakkedahl said his office is still reviewing two of the 12 suspicious deaths to determine if additional manslaughter charges are warranted. Luyao's attorney, Joel Hirschhorn of Miami, said he has talked at length with prosecutors and was aware the new charges were coming. "I am pleased the State Attorney's Office is acting responsibly," Hirschhorn said. "A less responsible office would have thrown all the deaths in the mix and let the court sort them out. "Not that I'm conceding the state is right." Both sides agreed to an order that protects Luyao's patients from having their medical records made public. They also agreed to change Luyao's curfew if she finds a new job. At present, the conditions of Luyao's bond restrict her from leaving home between the hours of 7 p.m. and 9 a.m. In March, the state Health Department stripped Luyao of her medical license following her first arrest. Luyao has been out of work since local law enforcement officials shut down her medical office at 9474 S. U.S. 1 in Port St. Lucie following her first arrest. A lengthy investigation of the doctor began after Treasure Coast Regional Medical Examiner Dr. Roger Mittleman wrote a letter to the state Health Department late last year in which he detailed his concerns over the deaths of 12 of Luyao's patients. An undercover state investigator posed as a patient to determine what type of care Luyao was providing. Luyao treated the investigator for phony back pain on six visits in 2001. After Luyao's arrest, the investigator testified in court that Luyao prescribed him large doses of OxyContin and other prescription medications without being fully examined. Investigators served a search warrant on her office in December 2001. Cash totaling $63,000 was found in a bag in a filing cabinet, investigators said. Prosecutors said she pocketed cash in exchange for OxyContin prescriptions. St. Lucie County Sheriff deputies arrested Luyao, a Philippine native, and Geiger originally set a $1.89 million bond. The Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled the bond was too high and Geiger reset it at $455,000. Luyao has been free on bond since May 14. Both sides said the discovery process would take months. Geiger wanted to set Luyao's trial for August, but both sides said that did not allow enough time. Bakkedahl said there are at least 7,500 pages of evidence to review, mostly medical records. Geiger rescheduled the trial for Sept. 4. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth