During his tenure at USC, former Keck School of Medicine Dean Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito allegedly partied with prostitutes and criminals while high on a cocktail of illegal drugs, according to an investigative report from the Los Angeles Times.
The Los Angeles Times report, which was published Monday, claims to pull back the curtain on the private life of the renowned eye surgeon who sat at the head of the prestigious Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. According to the report, Dean Puliafito allegedly “kept company with a circle of criminals and drug users” during his tenure as dean of the medical school.
A 22-year-old prostitute named Sarah Warren told the Times that she met Puliafito in early 2015. She claims that she and Dr. Puliafito were constant companions for more than a year and a half. During this time, Warren claims that she attended drug-fueled parties with Puliafito, some of which may have occurred after-hours on the USC campus.
During their first encounter, Warren claims that she offered Puliafito meth, which he allegedly accepted. According to her interview, Warren claims that Puliafito was comfortable around illegal drugs. Warren, who was arrested four times on charges that included drug possession, petty theft, and drunk driving, claimed that she thought it odd that Puliafito had so much time to spend with her, given his commitments at the medical school.
On March 4, 2015, around 5 PM, Puliafito spoke to a Fire Department Dispatcher to report that his “girlfriend” had suffered an apparent overdose. “My girlfriend here had a bunch of drinks and she’s sleeping,” he told the dispatcher according to a transcript. Asked whether the woman had taken anything else, he replied, “I think just the alcohol.”
After the ambulance arrived, a hotel employee called the police after learning that Warren and Puliafito may have been consuming illegal drugs. “I got somebody in one of the rooms, they [were] doing drugs in the room,” the employee told an emergency operator. “I think they [were] doing crystal meth.”
In her interview with the Times, Warren claimed that she had been partying with Puliafito in the hotel room for two days before the overdose. She claimed that she had consumed an excessive amount of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or the “date-rape drug,” which some use recreationally in low doses for its euphoric effect.
In videos obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Puliafito reportedly used a butane torch to heat a large glass pipe designed for methamphetamine use. Seated next to him in the video was a young woman allegedly smoking heroin from a piece of heated foil.
Puliafito resigned in March 2016 from his position, which netted him an annual salary of $1.1 million. Just three weeks prior to his resignation, Warren had allegedly overdosed in his Pasedena hotel room. After he resigned, USC retained Puliafito as a faculty member and he continued to accept new patients at the campus eye clinic. He claims that his resignation was made voluntarily so that he could pursue biotech work.
Following the publication of the Times report, USC announced that Puliafito had been placed on leave from all of his roles at the medical school, including seeing patients.
Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com