Methadone in the News
April
27, 2002 - VERO BEACH An anguished Vero Highlands mother cried
out for justice Friday.
Justice
for her OxyContin-addicted son, Frank "Tony" Barnard
Jr., 26, who went into a coma Monday and died of acute renal
failure Wednesday at Indian River Memorial Hospital, she said.
Justice for her daughter, Tina Smith, 27, of Martin County,
who died of an OxyContin overdose July 13, she said.
Justice
for her brother, Floyd Baker, 44, an OxyContin addict who died
March 29, 2001.
And justice
for all the other patients of a Port St. Lucie doctor accused
of trafficking in prescription drugs and continuing a criminal
enterprise.
At a news
conference in her living room, Connie Sue Velie, 46, blamed
Dr. Asuncion Luyao for the deaths of her children. Both were
patients of Luyao and had received multiple prescriptions for
OxyContin and other drugs, including, in her son's case, methadone
and Xanax, she said.
Velie also
called on prosecutors to press murder charges.
"I
had three children. Now I have one left," she said. "(Luyao)
should be held accountable."
State attorneys
have said they are considering homicide charges against Luyao.
Prosecutors could not be reached Friday for an update.
Velie's
remaining son, Jeremiah Barnard, 24, said his brother broke
his ankle about three years ago and had several screws and pins
implanted. The injury must have been the reason his brother
sought treatment for pain, he said.
The younger
brother said Frank Barnard started taking OxyContin about 2
years ago and was on methadone treatment to kick the habit when
he died.
Luyao, 60,
was arrested March 26 after months of investigation and is in
the St. Lucie County jail unable to post $1.83 million bail.
More than
50 people including patients, members of the local Filipino
community and her family have appeared at court hearings to
support Luyao, a native of the Philippines.
Barnard
died the day his mother filed a malpractice suit against Luyao
for her daughter's death, said attorney Philip DeBerard, of
Stuart, who is handling the case. He anticipates a lawsuit will
be filed in her son's death.
BOONE
CO., WV, Feb. 19 - A drug problem in Boone County is costing
some people their lives. Since November at least 5 people have
died because of incorrect drug use. Police say these victims
were all drug addicts at one point trying to kick the habit.
When you're addicted to a narcotic like oxycontin or cocaine
sometimes you're given a prescription for methadone. That can
come in the form of a pill. Some people are prescribed a duragesic
patch. Both these medications are used to lesson the effects
of the withdrawal you experience when you give up your drug
of choice. The problem comes in when you combine the patch or
methadone with the narcotic. The combination can be deadly.
Boone County Chief Deputy Rodney Miller says, "we're learning
ourselves along the way as to how this drug will interact with
other drugs, but the education is coming at the cost of other
lives apparently because we're seeing what's taken place after
the fact."
Since November 24 five adults in Boone County have died. The
youngest was 28 - the oldest was 42. Miller tells us these men
and women have died with high levels of methadone in their systems.
Timmy McKinny has a friend who was using methadone to control
his drug problem. McKinny doesn't like the idea of treating
one drug addiction with another drug. McKinny says, "I
don't think that it's right that they do that I think they should
find some other way to that without using other drugs".
The big push now in Boone County is to make people aware of
the
dangers of mixing methadone and other drugs.
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