Elderly Pinoy doc in NY, wife arrested over $77M ‘pill mill’

An elderly Filipino doctor in New York and his wife were arrested Tuesday for allegedly being the source of $77 million worth of painkillers being sold on the black market, reports said.

A report on the New York Daily News, citing narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan, said Dr. Rogelio Lucas, 77, and his 79-year-old wife Lydia, who works as his office manager, has been illegally peddling the pills since 2009.

The couple, who resides in Upper West Side, a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, is accused of selling more than 28,000 prescriptions for oxycodone, a highly addictive painkiller.

Brennan said Dr. Lucas worked with several major drug rings to write prescriptions for over 3 million tablets.

The couple, who are facing 37 counts of illegally selling a controlled substance, pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $500,000 bail, the report said.

A separate report on the New York Post said Dr. Lucas earned his medical degree in the Philippines, where the couple has several properties. They also reportedly have homes in Hawaii and Florida.

Prosecutors said Lucas operated a family practice that catered to patients covered by Medicaid before he and his wife engaged in the illegal activity.

Quoting the suspects' lawyer Liam Malanaphy, the New York Daily News report said the couple has nine children and have been married for 55 years. —KBK, GMA News

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