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Puliafito Coverage Morning Report (7/21 - 7/23)

Monday Morning (7/24)

California Today: Turmoil at U.S.C.
Jul 24, 2017 | The New York Times
By Mike McPhate

For the last week, the University of Southern California has been reeling in the wake of a sensational report in The Los Angeles Times that one of its former medical school deans abused drugs.
What did USC's leaders known about Dr. Puliafito's double life, and when did they know it? (Letters to the Editor)
Jul 24, 2017 | LA Times

To the editor: In 2010, The Times published my letter about the sanctions levied against USC’s football program, which denied knowledge of its players receiving anything improper. The people running the program were wildly successful and brought in money, talent and prestige to the university. Apparently that was sufficient to satisfy the administration. (“USC’s silence on its medical school dean’s double life is deafening,” editorial, July 19)
USC Moves to Fire Former Medical School Dean
Jul 24, 2017 | Inside Higher Ed
By Nick Roll

The University of Southern California is taking steps to cut ties with its former medical school dean after a Los Angeles Times investigation documented not only his alleged heavy drug use, but also his alleged enabling of other addicts with whom he socialized.

Sunday (7/23)

USC received more than a year of questions about former medical school dean's conduct before scandal broke
Jul 23, 2017 | LA Times
By Paul Pringle, Adam Elmahrek, Matt Hamilton and Sarah Parvini

Four days after The Times published a story about drug use by the then-dean of USC’s medical school, the university announced it was moving to fire Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito and said it was “outraged and disgusted” by his conduct.
USC Starts Procedure To Fire Former Medical Dean Amid Drug Abuse Scandal
Jul 23, 2017 | The Daily Caller
By Rob Shimshock

The University of Southern California responded to accusations of illegal drug use concerning its former medical dean by banning the faculty member from campus and initiating a procedure to fire him, according to a Saturday report.

Saturday (7/22)

U.S.C. Moves to Fire Former Medical School Dean Over Drug Allegations
Jul 22, 2017 | The New York Times
By Hannah Alani

The University of Southern California said on Friday it was moving to fire the former dean of its medical school, Dr. Carmen Puliafito, after revelations that he had engaged in drug use during his tenure.
‘We are outraged and disgusted’: USC moves to fire former medical school dean over drug allegations
Jul 22, 2017 | The Washington Post
By Susan Svrluga

The University of Southern California banned its former medical school dean from campus and moved to fire him amid mounting anger over allegations that he had abused illegal drugs.
U. of Southern California Says It Will Fire Puliafito
Jul 22, 2017 | The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Mitch Gerber

The University of Southern California, reacting to reports of “egregious behavior” by Carmen A. Puliafito, a former dean of the medical school, told the faculty on Friday that the university would begin steps to strip him of tenure and dismiss him from the faculty, the Los Angeles Times reports.
USC to Fire Ex-Medical School Dean Over Drug Allegations
Jul 22, 2017 | NBC Los Angeles

The University of Southern California announced Friday that it will fire its former medical school dean over allegations that he abused drugs.
USC Begins Process Of Firing Former Med School Dean
Jul 22, 2017 | CBS Los Angeles

USC has begun the process of terminating former medical school dean Carmen Puliafito and stripping him of his faculty tenure because of substance abuse-related activities, university officials announced.
USC scandal: Med school dean with wild, secret life being fired, probe launched
Jul 22, 2017 | My News LA (City News Service)
By Debbie L. Sklar

USC has begun the process of terminating former medical school dean Carmen Puliafito and stripping him of his faculty tenure because of substance abuse-related activities, university officials announced.
USC Bans Former Dean, Citing 'Egregious Behavior'
Jul 22, 2017 | Newser
By Gina Carey

New evidence in an investigation of Dr. Carmen Puliafito has USC quickly separating itself from the former Keck School of Medicine dean. Per the Los Angeles Times, the school has begun the process of firing Puliafito—which involves removing his faculty tenure—and has barred him from campus. Puliafito was the subject of an extensive Times piece published Monday that reported on his “other life” outside his prestigious professional and publishing record, which involves nefarious activities alongside a "circle of criminals and drug users." President C.L. Max Nikias had harsh words for the former dean in a letter to the campus community, where he wrote: “We are outraged and disgusted by this individual’s behavior.” The university has not disclosed what new information has turned up regarding Puliafito or confirmed whether it coincides with the Times report.

Friday Night (7/22)

USC to fire ex-medical school dean over drug allegations
Jul 21, 2017 | Associated Press

The University of Southern California announced Friday that it will fire its former medical school dean over allegations that he abused drugs.
USC moves to fire, ban from campus former medical school dean over 'egregious behavior'
Jul 21, 2017 | LA Times
By Paul Pringle, Sarah Parvini and Adam Elmahrek

Faced with mounting questions and anger on campus, USC announced Friday it was hiring an ex-federal prosecutor to investigate a report by The Times that the former dean of the university’s medical school associated with criminals and drug abusers and used methamphetamine and other drugs with them.
'We are outraged and disgusted:' USC orders outside investigation of former medical school dean's behavior
Jul 21, 2017 | LA Times
By Paul Pringle, Sarah Parvini and Adam Elmahrek

Faced with mounting anger and questions, USC announced Friday it was hiring an ex-federal prosecutor to investigate reports in The Times that the former dean of the university’s medical school associated with criminals and drug abusers and used methamphetamine and other drugs with them.
Downfall of Carmen Puliafito, the USC dean who caroused in the underworld
Jul 21, 2017 | The Times (UK)
By Ben Hoyle

Until a few days ago Carmen A Puliafito, an eye surgeon, had a professional status of which most in the academic world could only dream.
USC hires outside attorney to investigate conduct of former Keck dean
Jul 21, 2017 | Daily Trojan
By Diana Kruzman & Emma Peplow

USC has hired an outside attorney to investigate the conduct of former Keck School of Medicine Dean Carmen Puliafito during his time at USC, President C. L. Max Nikias announced Friday in a letter to the USC community.

Broadcast Media Coverage

KCBS (CBS): SoCal Week in Review
Jul 21, 2017 | KCBS (CBS)

Now on to Carmen Puliafito. CBS 2's jeffrey nguyen reported monday he's also the former dean of usc's school of medicine.
KFIAM (KFI): Billy Handel
Jul 22, 2017 | KFIAM (KFI)

Usc is moving to fire their for a medical school team following a series of explosive delhi china reports about him regularly hearty partying and doing drugs with low level criminals are decades younger than himself
KABC (ABC): Eyewitness News at 6AM and 8AM
Jul 22, 2017 | KABC (ABC)

Usc has ordered an outside investigation into the former dean of the university's medical school. usc says it's hiring an ex-federal prosecutor to look into the actions of doctor carmen puliafito.
KCBS (CBS): CBS 2 News Saturday
Jul 22, 2017 | KCBS (CBS): CBS 2 News Saturday
By KCBS (CBS)

We're outraged and disgusted first public comments from usc are president max, about a scandal at medical school a los angeles times investigation claims former medical school dean carmen lived a secret life for years.
KCBS (CBS) CBS 2 News at 11 AM
Jul 22, 2017 | KCBS (CBS)

Usc is hiring a prosecutor to look into the scandal around its former medical school dean to a los angeles times report claims carmen with the secret life for years.
KABC (ABC): Eywitness News at 11 PM
Jul 22, 2017 | KABC (ABC)

Usc has ordered an outside investigation into the former dean of the university's medical school, dr. carmen puliafito. this after an "l.a. times investigation said puliafito associated with criminals and drug users, even abusing drugs himself, all while he was still the dean of the keck school of medicine.
KABC (ABC): Eyewitness News at 6 PM
Jul 21, 2017 | KABC (ABC)

Usc has ordered an outside investigation into the former dean of the university medical center. the university has said they will be looking into the actions of the former dean.
KABCAM (KABC): Red Eye Radio
Jul 24, 2017 | KABCAM (KABC)

Officials used to indicate in an independent investigation to help them to the bottom of the scandal involving the former dean of the university's medical school .
KNXAM (KNX): Pat Haslam
Jul 24, 2017 | KNXAM (KNX)

New revelations in the investigation of 20 former usc medical school dean and gore told in allegations of drug use of hanging out criminals .

Monday Morning (7/24)

California Today: Turmoil at U.S.C.

Jul 24, 2017 | The New York Times

By Mike McPhate

For the last week, the University of Southern California has been reeling in the wake of a sensational report in The Los Angeles Times that one of its former medical school deans abused drugs.
The report said the former dean, Dr. Carmen Puliafito, led a secret life of wild partying even as he oversaw medical students and professors.
Still unclear is what campus officials knew about accusations against Dr. Puliafito, a Harvard-trained eye surgeon whose fund-raising brought in more than $1 billion for the Keck School of Medicine.
Whether the scandal grows to engulf other parts of the university administration could hinge in part on an internal investigation opened in response to the article.
Citing interviews with associates of Dr. Puliafito as well as videos and photos, The Los Angeles Times chronicled a series of troubling accusations. Among them:
• Dr. Puliafito commonly used hard drugs. At times, he was seen swallowing what was said to be an ecstasy pill and inhaling smoke from a methamphetamine pipe.
• A man who was living in an addiction treatment facility said Dr. Puliafito, a friend of his, had given him meth.
• A woman who worked as a prostitute said she and Dr. Puliafito, who is married, had become “constant companions” after meeting in 2015.
Dr. Puliafito resigned as dean last year not long after the woman, Sarah Warren, overdosed while the pair were at a Pasadena hotel. Yet he continued to serve on the medical school’s faculty.
Dr. Puliafito has not publicly addressed the accusations. An attempt by The New York Times to reach him on Sunday was unsuccessful.
The university has said it was unaware of the troubles swirling around the doctor.
In a letter to faculty, the university’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, Michael W. Quick, said it wasn’t until Friday that campus officials saw information of “egregious behavior” by the former dean.
As a result, he said, Dr. Puliafito would be fired.
On Sunday, a Los Angeles Times report cast doubt on the university’s eagerness to confront the Puliafito matter.
The newspaper said it began asking university officials about Dr. Puliafito 15 months ago.
In March, it sent an email to C.L. Max Nikias, the university president, that referred to meth being found in a hotel room registered to Dr. Puliafito.
That email, along with multiple other requests for comment, went unanswered, the newspaper said.
On Sunday, The New York Times asked the university to discuss the latest Los Angeles Times report and other questions about Dr. Puliafito. The request was declined.

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What did USC's leaders known about Dr. Puliafito's double life, and when did they know it? (Letters to the Editor)

Jul 24, 2017 | LA Times

To the editor: In 2010, The Times published my letter about the sanctions levied against USC’s football program, which denied knowledge of its players receiving anything improper. The people running the program were wildly successful and brought in money, talent and prestige to the university. Apparently that was sufficient to satisfy the administration. (“USC’s silence on its medical school dean’s double life is deafening,” editorial, July 19).
Fast forward to now, and we have Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, the former dean of USC’s Keck School of Medicine. The Times states that “it is unclear why USC was so reluctant to discuss” Puliafito’s double life.
However, in established USC tradition, Puliafito seems to be cut from the same cloth: He brought in money and raised the ranking of the medical school. He was still representing the school at a function last weekend.
The leadership of the university apparently still pursues money and prestige, apparently at any cost.
Susan Fredericks, Calabasas
..
To the editor: High marks to The Times for turning up long-concealed facts about Puliafito’s illicit drug activity and association with criminals. Plaudits to columnist Steve Lopez too. He focuses on USC administrators’ assiduous efforts to keep The Times, and the public, in the dark about the professor and supernumerary fundraiser.
As a UCLA alumna, I’m proud to have attended a university whose venerable motto is “let there be light.” I especially appreciate Lopez’s take that the shady Puliafito episode “might make any self-respecting Trojan root for UCLA.”
An utter shame, that Puliafito let success go to his head. Perhaps USC will consider changing its motto, “let whoever earns the palm bear it,” to something less subject to misinterpretation.
Devra Mindell, Santa Monica
::
To the editor: On the front page of Friday’s Times, O.J. Simpson’s parole was reported.
In Wednesday’s paper, it was reported that USC President C.L. Max Nikias expressed contrition and promised to “examine and address” the after-hours activities of Puliafito.
In Friday’s Sports section, a spokesperson was quoted as saying that USC recognizes Simpson for his football accomplishments, and his off-field behavior is beyond USC’s scope.
In spite of Nikias’ words, the university’s actions speak louder and reveal its blind eye for integrity.
Jeffrey R. Knott, Fullerton
To the editor: Am I the only person who doesn’t care about what Puliafito did in his private life?
From what I’ve heard, he was a brilliant surgeon who never put his patients or students at risk and worked hard on behalf of USC. I imagine he is not the only high-achieving professional to have personal problems.
How does this qualify as front-page news?
Paula Goldman, Santa Monica
..
To the editor: As a graduate of USC with a doctorate, I am appalled at the lack of an appropriate response to the outrageous behavior of the former Keck dean.
Steve Lopez stated at the end of his column that if Nikias doesn’t come clean about what he knew and when, USC would be better off without him. I could not agree more.
Carol Woodward, Agoura Hills

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USC Moves to Fire Former Medical School Dean

Jul 24, 2017 | Inside Higher Ed

By Nick Roll

The University of Southern California is taking steps to cut ties with its former medical school dean after a Los Angeles Times investigation documented not only his alleged heavy drug use, but also his alleged enabling of other addicts with whom he socialized.
In a lengthy investigation published July 17, the Times reported Carmen Puliafito’s alleged behavior based on interviews with addicts he socialized with, drawing on videos of their activities as well. Puliafito resigned from his post as medical school dean in March, saying he wanted to explore outside opportunities, but he was still associated with USC and had been making public appearances on the university's behalf.
After the Times reported its findings, USC announced that Puliafito had been placed on leave from his positions as a faculty member and eye surgeon. As of Friday, according to the Times, USC had hired a former federal prosecutor to further investigate the initial reports and had begun the process to strip Puliafito of his tenure and fire him. The Times made repeated inquiries about Puliafito over the course of 15 months, which USC officials never responded to before the July 17 story broke.
When USC made the move to fire Puliafito four days after the Times’s first story, Provost Michael Quick said it was "the first time we saw such information firsthand," according to another Times story published Sunday documenting USC's repeated silence in the face of reporters' more-than-a-year-long string of inquiries, which included giving USC officials 911 tapes related to Puliafito's misconduct. Officials have not said when they first learned of Puliafito's drug issues.

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Sunday (7/23)

USC received more than a year of questions about former medical school dean's conduct before scandal broke

Jul 23, 2017 | LA Times

By Paul Pringle, Adam Elmahrek, Matt Hamilton and Sarah Parvini

Four days after The Times published a story about drug use by the then-dean of USC’s medical school, the university announced it was moving to fire Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito and said it was “outraged and disgusted” by his conduct.
USC Provost Michael Quick said the university decided to act because it had been shown “extremely troubling” information that same day about Puliafito’s behavior. Quick provided no details. But he said it was “the first time we saw such information firsthand.”
“I know many people wanted us to act on allegations and hearsay, but we needed actual facts,” Quick wrote in a letter to the faculty.
It remains unclear when top USC officials first learned about the allegations involving Puliafito. But The Times made repeated inquiries over the last 15 months about Puliafito, in some cases describing information reporters had gathered about the dean.
More than a year of questions
USC’s leaders never responded to the inquiries. Numerous phone calls were not returned, emails went unanswered and a letter seeking an interview with USC President C.L. Max Nikias to discuss Puliafito was returned to The Times by courier, unopened.
Only after The Times published its report Monday did USC address the matter publicly. By Friday, officials deplored Puliafito’s conduct and said they had engaged a law firm to look into the administration’s handling of the matter.
Medical ethicists said USC had a duty to look into allegations about Puliafito immediately, even if they were incomplete or uncorroborated. A prompt internal investigation was necessary, they said, regardless of whether the university decided it could answer The Times’ questions.
Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, a Georgetown University professor of biomedical ethics, said the need for a swift inquiry was especially pressing because of Puliafito’s role as an overseer of faculty members, clinicians, students and research grants. “These professionals are held to a higher moral standard than other persons,” he said.
“The allegations are so serious, he could put patients at risk,” said Art Caplan, founding head of the Division of Bioethics at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. “I would say if you’re not going to fire him outright because you’re waiting to get confirmation of the facts, I would be at least moving to suspend him and figure out what’s going on here.”
The Times report, published Monday, described in detail how Puliafito kept company with a circle of criminals and drug addicts and used methamphetamine and other drugs while serving as dean of the Keck School of Medicine. The article cited photos and videos reviewed by The Times that showed Puliafito and his friends, who were in their 20s and 30s, partying in 2015 and 2016.
The images include some in which Puliafito’s companions are seen holding drug paraphernalia during an after-hours visit to the dean’s office at USC.
An abrupt resignation
One member of Puliafito’s circle was a 21-year-old woman who overdosed in his presence at a Pasadena hotel three weeks before he abruptly quit as dean in March 2016, in the middle of the spring term.
USC has not said whether the incident was related to Puliafito’s resignation.
After stepping down as dean, the Harvard-educated Puliafito, a renowned eye surgeon, remained on the Keck faculty, continued to accept new patients and represented the university in public as recently as last weekend.
On Tuesday, a day after The Times report was published, Nikias said in a letter to the campus community that USC would “examine and address” the accounts but also suggested the school had not determined whether they were true. His statement did not say whether the university had known about the details before the article was published.
“Our university categorically condemns the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of drugs,” the president wrote. “We are concerned about Dr. Puliafito and his family and hope that, if the article’s assertions are true, he receives the help and treatment he may need for a full recovery.”
On Friday, Nikias released a strongly worded statement, saying “we are outraged and disgusted by this individual’s behavior.” The same day, Quick told the faculty that Puliafito had been barred from the campus and from “any association with USC.”
The Times investigation began with a tip about the Pasadena hotel incident. Paramedics rushed the woman, Sarah Warren, to a hospital, where she recovered. A police report said officers found methamphetamine in the hotel room. No arrests were made.
A witness to the incident told the newspaper of phoning Nikias’ office, giving two employees an anonymous account of the overdose and demanding that USC take action against Puliafito.
Phone records reviewed by The Times showed the witness made a six-minute call to Nikias’ office on March 14, 2016, 10 days after the overdose. The tipster said he did not expect a call back but had told the USC employees he would go to the media if action wasn’t taken.
Last week, Puliafito’s successor as dean, Dr. Rohit Varma, told a gathering of scores of students that USC had found “no evidence, particularly, of that phone call.” Varma told the students that Puliafito had appeared drunk at off-campus events and had sought treatment for alcoholism. He said details in the story came as a shock.
The Times first contacted USC about Puliafito the month after the overdose. In response, Puliafito said in an April 20, 2016, email that he resigned as dean to take a position in the biotech industry. He never again replied to interview requests or written questions.
In May 2016, The Times left a phone message and sent an email to USC’s senior vice president for university relations, Thomas Sayles. The email said, without going into detail, that the newspaper was aware of the circumstances preceding Puliafito’s resignation and wanted to hear from USC about how it dealt with the matter. Sayles did not respond.
The next month, USC hosted a catered reception for Puliafito on a sun-splashed lawn at USC’s health sciences campus in Boyle Heights. As dozens of Keck employees looked on, Nikias praised Puliafito’s contributions to the school as dean.
The Times continued to gather information about the overdose. In a November 2016 email, a reporter asked to interview Nikias and Quick, saying an upcoming story would examine “in detail the off-campus events that preceded Dr. Puliafito’s resignation.” Again, there was no reply.
A sealed envelope unopened
Last January, a reporter visited Nikias’ San Marino home. He was away, and the reporter gave a note for him to Nikias’ wife. The note was in a sealed envelope; it similarly asked Nikias to speak to the reporter about the events surrounding Puliafito’s resignation.
The next day, the envelope was returned unopened to The Times by courier, with a letter of complaint from Brenda Maceo, USC’s vice president for public relations and marketing. The letter said the reporter had “crossed the line” by visiting the Nikias home.
The Times did more reporting. On March 2 of this year, the newspaper emailed an interview request and a list of questions to Nikias. It said a reporter had learned of the witness’ call to Nikias’ office. The email also said that the hotel room where the young woman overdosed had been registered to Puliafito and that meth was found in the room.
Attached to the email was a recording of the 911 call a hotel employee made to report the apparent overdose. On the recording, Puliafito is heard identifying himself as a doctor and saying the woman was his girlfriend. He told the 911 dispatcher that the woman “had a bunch of drinks and she’s sleeping.”
When the dispatcher asked if she had taken anything else, Puliafito said, “I think just the alcohol.” A police spokeswoman later told The Times the woman had overdosed on the same drugs found in the room — methamphetamine.
Nikias did not respond to the March 2 email. Two reporters visited his office that day to ask for an interview. Nikias’ chief of staff, Dennis Cornell, told them, “The president will not be speaking to The Times on this matter.”
This month, Nikias did not reply to a final email from The Times requesting an interview before the newspaper’s investigation was published.
Ann Fromholz, a Pasadena lawyer and USC law school alumna who has conducted hundreds of workplace investigations, said it’s common for employers to launch investigations prompted by anonymous tips or inquiries from outside institutions.
“Even though the employer doesn’t know the details of the complaining party, they are nonetheless obligated to investigate and determine if misconduct occurred,” Fromholz said.
‘A deliberative and careful manner’
As outrage over the Puliafito revelations grew, Quick on Wednesday wrote the USC facility a memo attempting to explain the university’s actions.
“I want to reassure you that all along we have taken this matter very seriously, that we made what we felt were the best decisions we could make, as swiftly as could be done in a prudent and thoughtful manner, and given the information that we had at any given time,” he wrote.
Responding to those on campus who asked why the university didn’t take “unilateral actions” against Puliafito, the provost said it followed the rules.
“If any of us were in a similar situation, we would want the university to follow its established processes in a deliberative and careful manner,” he wrote.
On Friday, Nikias announced that former federal prosecutor Debra Wong Yang would lead “a thorough investigation” into both Puliafito’s conduct and “the university’s response.”
Nikias said that in this “process of examination,” USC officials would “look to improve ways in which we could have recognized the severity of the situation sooner.”
He called on all USC employees to “cooperate fully and swiftly” with the investigation.
Yang is a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a firm with close ties to USC.
The firm’s managing partner, Kenneth M. Doran, is a graduate of USC’s Gould School of Law and a former chairman of its board of councilors. He has also been a prominent fundraiser for the school. Gibson Dunn was cited on the USC law school website in 2014 for achieving “100% participation” by USC alumni at the firm in a fundraising drive.
Yang represented USC when it faced a wrongful-death lawsuit in 2012 filed by the parents of two graduate students who were slain off-campus. The suit was dismissed in 2013.
Yang’s profile page on the Gibson Dunn website says she has worked as an adjunct professor at the USC law school. She last taught classes there in the late 1990s, according to a USC spokesman.

USC declined to comment further on Saturday, saying in a statement “it is imperative to let the inquiry by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher run its course so as to not impede its progress or cloud the recollections of those who may have information to share. Our priority now is to obtain a clear picture of exactly what happened and to ensure the well-being and trust of our students at USC, the patients at the Keck School and our entire university community.”

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USC Starts Procedure To Fire Former Medical Dean Amid Drug Abuse Scandal

Jul 23, 2017 | The Daily Caller

By Rob Shimshock

The University of Southern California responded to accusations of illegal drug use concerning its former medical dean by banning the faculty member from campus and initiating a procedure to fire him, according to a Saturday report.
C.L. Max Nikias, USC’s president, and Michael W. Quick, the school’s senior vice president for academic affairs, responded to the accusations in letters to the university community Friday, reported The Washington Post. The administrators sent the letters four days following an extensive account of former medical dean Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito’s partying and drug abuse in The Los Angeles Times.
Videos and pictures obtained but not published by The Los Angeles Times portray the dean taking drugs and spending time with drug users and criminals.
“We are outraged and disgusted by [Puliafito’s] behavior,” said Nikias in his Friday letter to the USC community. “It runs counter to our values and everything for which our university stands.”
The school president said that USC hired Debra Wong Yang, a partner of the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm, to investigate Puliafito.
“We have initiated the required process to terminate Dr. Puliafito’s employment at USC and strip him of his faculty tenure,” said Quick in another Friday letter to the campus. “As we undergo this process, he is under immediate suspension from the university and is barred from our campuses and any association with USC, including attending or participating in university events.”
“We certainly understand that substance abuse is a tragic and devastating disease. But we are also bound to our responsibilities as a university to take the necessary actions concerning Dr. Puliafito’s status.”
Puliafito resigned from his position as medical dean in March 2016, three weeks after a 21-year-old woman allegedly overdosed in the former dean’s hotel room. Puliafito stayed on USC’s medical school staff.
USC’s medicine department climbed from #38 to #31 on on U.S. News & World Report’s rankings during Puliafito’s tenure as dean. The doctor had secured millions of dollars in donations for the school.
The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to USC and Puliafito for comment, but received none in time for press.

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Saturday (7/22)

U.S.C. Moves to Fire Former Medical School Dean Over Drug Allegations

Jul 22, 2017 | The New York Times

By Hannah Alani

The University of Southern California said on Friday it was moving to fire the former dean of its medical school, Dr. Carmen Puliafito, after revelations that he had engaged in drug use during his tenure.
The doctor was immediately suspended from the school’s faculty as it started the process to fire him, the university’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, Michael W. Quick, said in a statement.
The university said it received information on Friday of “egregious behavior” involving drug abuse by Dr. Puliafito. The university did not elaborate about where it got the information.
“This was the first time we saw such information firsthand,” Mr. Quick wrote. “It is extremely troubling and we need to take serious action.”
He added that the doctor was barred from the campus and any school-related events or activities.
“We certainly understand that substance abuse is a tragic and devastating disease,” the statement said. “But we are also bound to our responsibilities as a university to take the necessary actions concerning Dr. Puliafito’s status.”
Attempts to reach Dr. Puliafito on Saturday were unsuccessful. A phone number listed in public records with a Pasadena, Calif., residence was disconnected. A faculty page for him on the Keck School of Medicine website had been taken down.
The Los Angeles Times reported that he was seen on videos apparently smoking methamphetamine and consorting with addicts and criminals.
One woman told The Times that he was with her when she overdosed in a hotel room and that he had taken her to his campus office to use drugs. The woman, Sarah Warren, who worked as a prostitute, said they were “constant companions” after meeting in early 2015.
He resigned as the dean of the medical school less than a month after Ms. Warren overdosed. The Times, citing the Keck website, reported that he continued to accept new patients at campus eye clinics after his resignation.
A renowned eye surgeon responsible for several breakthroughs in ophthalmology, Dr. Puliafito led aggressive fund-raising efforts that garnered more than $1 billion for the medical school.
The university also announced on Friday that it had hired Debra W. Yang, a partner at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles and a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission, to investigate the doctor’s conduct and the university’s response.
“Our priority now is to obtain a clear picture of exactly what happened and to ensure the well-being and trust of our students at U.S.C., the patients at the Keck School and our entire university community,” the university said in an email on Saturday.
On Tuesday, a day after The Los Angeles Times published its report, C. L. Max Nikias, the university president, wrote in an open letter that Dr. Puliafito had been placed on leave and could not treat patients.
“We are concerned about Dr. Puliafito and his family and hope that, if the article’s assertions are true, he receives the help and treatment he may need for a full recovery,” he wrote.

“Reports of high-powered executives, doctors and others with substance abuse issues have become all too common — individuals who function in their workplace but have serious issues affecting their personal lives.”

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‘We are outraged and disgusted’: USC moves to fire former medical school dean over drug allegations

Jul 22, 2017 | The Washington Post

By Susan Svrluga

The University of Southern California banned its former medical school dean from campus and moved to fire him amid mounting anger over allegations that he had abused illegal drugs.
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times wrote a staggering account — which can be read in full detail here — describing the secret life of the former dean of the Keck School of Medicine, Harvard-educated eye surgeon Carmen A. Puliafito. The doctor had brought in millions in donations and grant money to the school and lured top talent. But he resigned as dean in March 2016, staying on the medical staff. Three weeks earlier, the L.A. Times reported, a 21-year-old woman allegedly overdosed in his hotel room in his presence; police found methamphetamine in the room but made no arrests. After the woman was treated at the hospital, she reportedly returned to the hotel and continued partying with Puliafito. The Times’ story described videos and photos shot in 2015 and 2016 showing the 66-year-old Puliafito using drugs with a prostitute and other much younger friends, including in the dean’s office at USC:
In one video, a tuxedo-clad Puliafito displays an orange pill on his tongue and says into the camera, “Thought I’d take an ecstasy before the ball.” Then he swallows the pill.
In another, Puliafito uses a butane torch to heat a large glass pipe outfitted for methamphetamine use. He inhales and then unleashes a thick plume of white smoke. Seated next to him on a sofa, a young woman smokes heroin from a piece of heated foil.
After the L.A. Times story broke, university officials issued a brief statement, saying they could not discuss personnel matters but that Puliafito was on leave from his roles at USC, including seeing patients. “If the assertions reported in the July 17 Los Angeles Times story are true, we hope that Carmen receives care and treatment that will lead him to a full recovery,” the statement said.
Response on social media and elsewhere, however, was blistering, with people asking how much the university knew, when the administration knew it, and why Puliafito, as the Times reported, had continued to represent the school in some roles as recently as last weekend. He was honored by the 44,000-student private university last year, after his sudden resignation as dean.
On Friday, USC’s president, C.L. Max Nikias, wrote a letter to the campus community: “We are outraged and disgusted by this individual’s behavior.” He said that the school had hired Debra Wong Yang, a partner in the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, to investigate Puliafito’s conduct, the university’s response, and its policies and procedures.
“Ms. Yang, the former top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, is highly respected,” Nikias wrote, “and has extensive experience leading and conducting internal investigations. Among her many credentials, she is the former U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, a retired state judge, and a former Los Angeles Police Commissioner.”
Also on Friday evening, the university’s provost, Michael Quick, wrote a letter to the faculty saying that they had been moving as best and swiftly as they could.
“I know many people wanted us to act on allegations and hearsay, but we needed actual facts,” Quick wrote. “Today, we were provided access to information of egregious behavior on the part of the former dean concerning substance abuse activities with people who aren’t affiliated with USC. This was the first time we saw such information first-hand. It is extremely troubling and we need to take serious action.”
Quick wrote that they had begun the process of firing Puliafito and stripping him of his faculty tenure. He is suspended and banned from campus and from participating in campus events. He added that university officials understand that substance abuse “is a tragic and devastating disease.”
Leaders of the faculty senate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Puliafito could not be immediately reached for a response Saturday morning.

Frederick J. Ryan Jr., the publisher and chief executive of The Washington Post, was elected to the USC Board of Trustees in February.

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U. of Southern California Says It Will Fire Puliafito

Jul 22, 2017 | The Chronicle of Higher Education

By Mitch Gerber

The University of Southern California, reacting to reports of “egregious behavior” by Carmen A. Puliafito, a former dean of the medical school, told the faculty on Friday that the university would begin steps to strip him of tenure and dismiss him from the faculty, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The newspaper reported earlier this week that Dr. Puliafito, who stepped down as dean last year, had led a secret life of illicit drug use and partying with other drug users and prostitutes. He has since taken a leave of absence from the university.
In a letter to the faculty, Michael Quick, the provost, said that “this was the first time we saw such information first-hand. It is extremely troubling and we need to take serious action.” In addition, he wrote, Dr. Puliafito is “barred from our campuses and any association with USC.”

In a separate letter, the university’s president, C.L, Max Nikias, said that Debra Wong Yang, a former judge and federal prosecutor, would lead an investigation into the reports of the medical professor’s behavior.

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USC to Fire Ex-Medical School Dean Over Drug Allegations

Jul 22, 2017 | NBC Los Angeles

The University of Southern California announced Friday that it will fire its former medical school dean over allegations that he abused drugs.
The school has started the process of terminating Dr. Carmen Puliafito from the faculty and stripping him of tenure, USC Provost Michael W. Quick announced in a letter to the faculty.
Quick said Puliafito was immediately suspended and barred from the campus and from any association with USC including attending or taking part in university events
The action came after USC received information Friday of "egregious behavior" concerning substance abuse, Quick said.
"This was the first time we saw such information first-hand," Quick wrote. "It is extremely troubling and we need to take serious action."
"We certainly understand that substance abuse is a tragic and devastating disease. But we are also bound to our responsibilities as a university to take the necessary actions concerning Dr. Puliafito's status," Quick wrote.
The announcement came the same day that USC said it had hired a former judge and federal prosecutor to head an investigation into allegations, first reported in the Los Angeles Times on Monday, that Puliafito was seen on video apparently smoking methamphetamine and consorting with addicts and criminals.
Debra Wong Yang, a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission, Superior Court judge and federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, will present her findings to a committee of the USC board of trustees.
"We are outraged and disgusted by this individual's behavior," USC President C.L. Max Nikias said in a letter announcing the investigation and urging colleagues to cooperate fully.
Puliafito, 66, is a renowned eye surgeon. He led the Keck School of Medicine for nearly a decade before resigning his $1.1 million-a-year post in 2016. However, he remained on the Keck faculty and continued to represent the university at public events as recently as last weekend.
Repeated attempts by The Associated Press and the Times to reach Puliafito have been unsuccessful and he has not publicly commented on the allegations raised by the Times investigation.
The paper reported that three weeks before Puliafito's resignation as dean, a 21-year-old woman had overdosed in his presence in a Pasadena hotel room. The woman was rushed to a hospital, where she recovered. Police found methamphetamine in the hotel room, according to a police report, but made no arrests.
The paper said it interviewed six people who said they used drugs with Puliafito and some captured their exploits in photos and videos shot in 2015 and 2016.

In one video, Puliafito uses a butane torch to heat a large glass pipe outfitted for methamphetamine use. He inhales and then unleashes a thick plume of white smoke. Seated next to him on a sofa, a young woman smokes heroin from a piece of heated foil.

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USC Begins Process Of Firing Former Med School Dean

Jul 22, 2017 | CBS Los Angeles

USC has begun the process of terminating former medical school dean Carmen Puliafito and stripping him of his faculty tenure because of substance abuse-related activities, university officials announced.
Puliafito is under immediate suspension from the university and is barred from its campuses and any association with USC, including attending or participating in university events, Michael W. Quick, the university’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs wrote in a memo to faculty members on Friday.
“We certainly understand that substance abuse is a tragic and devastating disease,” Quick wrote. “But we are also bound to our responsibilities as a university to take the necessary actions concerning Dr. Puliafito’s status.”
Quick wrote that USC was provided access Friday “to information of egregious behavior” by Puliafito “concerning substance abuse activities with people who aren’t affiliated with USC.”
“This was the first time we saw such information first hand,” Quick wrote. “It is extremely troubling and we need to take serious action.”
Earlier Friday, USC President C.L. Max Nikias announced that former federal prosecutor Debra Wong Yang has been hired to look into recent allegations by the Los Angeles Times that Puliafito abused hard drugs and associated with criminals and drug users.
“It is critical we understand how and why this happened so we can do everything possible to improve our ability to prevent something like this from happening again,” Nikias wrote in a letter to USC staff announcing Yang’s hire.
“As an academic institution, we are always challenging ourselves to be better. In this instance, we will look to improve ways in which we could have recognized the severity of the situation sooner.”
Puliafito, 66, a renowned eye surgeon, led the Keck School of Medicine for almost a decade before resigning in 2016. He remained on the Keck faculty and continued to represent the university at public events as recently as Saturday, July 15.
On Monday, the Times published an article reporting that during his tenure as dean, Puliafito kept company with a circle of criminals and addicts who said he used drugs with them.
The paper also reported that Puliafito was with a prostitute when she overdosed on drugs at a Pasadena hotel room and had to be rushed to a hospital.
The same day as the report, USC said Puliafito was no longer seeing patients and was on leave. Puliafito resigned his $1.1 million-a-year dean’s post in March 2016, saying he wanted to explore outside opportunities.
Yang is a former U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, a former state judge and a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission. She currently is a partner in the international law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Nikias said Yang will investigate the details of Puliafito’s conduct, the university’s response, as well as its existing policies and procedures and make findings and recommendations to the USC Board of Trustees Executive Committee.

“As an academic institution, we are always challenging ourselves to be better. In this instance, we will look to improve ways in which we could have recognized the severity of the situation sooner,” Nikias wrote.

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USC scandal: Med school dean with wild, secret life being fired, probe launched

Jul 22, 2017 | My News LA (City News Service)

By Debbie L. Sklar

USC has begun the process of terminating former medical school dean Carmen Puliafito and stripping him of his faculty tenure because of substance abuse-related activities, university officials announced.
Puliafito is under immediate suspension from the university and is barred from its campuses and any association with USC, including attending or participating in university events, Michael W. Quick, the university’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs wrote in a memo to faculty members on Friday.
“We certainly understand that substance abuse is a tragic and devastating disease,” Quick wrote. “But we are also bound to our responsibilities as a university to take the necessary actions concerning Dr. Puliafito’s status.”
Quick wrote that USC was provided access Friday “to information of egregious behavior” by Puliafito “concerning substance abuse activities with people who aren’t affiliated with USC.”
“This was the first time we saw such information first hand,” Quick wrote. “It is extremely troubling and we need to take serious action.”
Earlier Friday, USC President C.L. Max Nikias announced that former federal prosecutor Debra Wong Yang has been hired to look into recent allegations by the Los Angeles Times that Puliafito abused hard drugs and associated with criminals and drug users.
“It is critical we understand how and why this happened so we can do everything possible to improve our ability to prevent something like this from happening again,” Nikias wrote in a letter to USC staff announcing Yang’s hire.
“As an academic institution, we are always challenging ourselves to be better. In this instance, we will look to improve ways in which we could have recognized the severity of the situation sooner.”
Puliafito, 66, a renowned eye surgeon, led the Keck School of Medicine for almost a decade before resigning in 2016. He remained on the Keck faculty and continued to represent the university at public events as recently as Saturday, July 15.
On Monday, the Times published an article reporting that during his tenure as dean, Puliafito kept company with a circle of criminals and addicts who said he used drugs with them.
The paper also reported that Puliafito was with a prostitute when she overdosed on drugs at a Pasadena hotel room and had to be rushed to a hospital.
The same day as the report, USC said Puliafito was no longer seeing patients and was on leave. Puliafito resigned his $1.1 million-a-year dean’s post in March 2016, saying he wanted to explore outside opportunities.
Yang is a former U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, a former state judge and a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission. She currently is a partner in the international law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Nikias said Yang will investigate the details of Puliafito’s conduct, the university’s response, as well as its existing policies and procedures and make findings and recommendations to the USC Board of Trustees Executive Committee.

“As an academic institution, we are always challenging ourselves to be better. In this instance, we will look to improve ways in which we could have recognized the severity of the situation sooner,” Nikias wrote.

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USC Bans Former Dean, Citing 'Egregious Behavior'

Jul 22, 2017 | Newser

By Gina Carey

New evidence in an investigation of Dr. Carmen Puliafito has USC quickly separating itself from the former Keck School of Medicine dean. Per the Los Angeles Times, the school has begun the process of firing Puliafito—which involves removing his faculty tenure—and has barred him from campus. Puliafito was the subject of an extensive Times piece published Monday that reported on his “other life” outside his prestigious professional and publishing record, which involves nefarious activities alongside a "circle of criminals and drug users." President C.L. Max Nikias had harsh words for the former dean in a letter to the campus community, where he wrote: “We are outraged and disgusted by this individual’s behavior.” The university has not disclosed what new information has turned up regarding Puliafito or confirmed whether it coincides with the Times report.

Provost Michael W. Quick wrote in a separate letter to faculty that the investigation turned up “egregious behavior on the part of the former dean concerning substance abuse activities with people who aren’t affiliated with USC.” Puliafito resigned from his $1.1-million-a-year position in March 2016, citing his desire to seek outside opportunities after nearly a decade in his post. Three weeks prior to his resignation, he was present in the hotel room where a 21-year-old woman overdosed. Nikias has not said whether the investigation’s findings will be made public, but has asserted that the university must cooperate “fully and swiftly.”

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Friday Night (7/22)

USC to fire ex-medical school dean over drug allegations

Jul 21, 2017 | Associated Press

The University of Southern California announced Friday that it will fire its former medical school dean over allegations that he abused drugs.
The school has started the process of terminating Dr. Carmen Puliafito from the faculty and stripping him of tenure, USC Provost Michael W. Quick announced in a letter to the faculty.
Quick said Puliafito was immediately suspended and barred from the campus and from any association with USC including attending or taking part in university events.
The action came after USC received information Friday of "egregious behavior" concerning substance abuse, Quick said.
"This was the first time we saw such information first-hand," Quick wrote. "It is extremely troubling and we need to take serious action."
"We certainly understand that substance abuse is a tragic and devastating disease. But we are also bound to our responsibilities as a university to take the necessary actions concerning Dr. Puliafito's status," Quick wrote.
The announcement came the same day that USC said it had hired a former judge and federal prosecutor to head an investigation into allegations, first reported in the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/2tOJ4j6) on Monday, that Puliafito was seen on video apparently smoking methamphetamine and consorting with addicts and criminals.
Debra Wong Yang, a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission, Superior Court judge and federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, will present her findings to a committee of the USC board of trustees.
"We are outraged and disgusted by this individual's behavior," USC President C.L. Max Nikias said in a letter announcing the investigation and urging colleagues to cooperate fully.
Puliafito, 66, is a renowned eye surgeon. He led the Keck School of Medicine for nearly a decade before resigning his $1.1 million-a-year post in 2016. However, he remained on the Keck faculty and continued to represent the university at public events as recently as last weekend.
Repeated attempts by The Associated Press and the Times to reach Puliafito have been unsuccessful and he has not publicly commented on the allegations raised by the Times investigation.
The paper reported that three weeks before Puliafito's resignation as dean, a 21-year-old woman had overdosed in his presence in a Pasadena hotel room. The woman was rushed to a hospital, where she recovered. Police found methamphetamine in the hotel room, according to a police report, but made no arrests.
The paper said it interviewed six people who said they used drugs with Puliafito and some captured their exploits in photos and videos shot in 2015 and 2016.

In one video, Puliafito uses a butane torch to heat a large glass pipe outfitted for methamphetamine use. He inhales and then unleashes a thick plume of white smoke. Seated next to him on a sofa, a young woman smokes heroin from a piece of heated foil.

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USC moves to fire, ban from campus former medical school dean over 'egregious behavior'

Jul 21, 2017 | LA Times

By Paul Pringle, Sarah Parvini and Adam Elmahrek

Faced with mounting questions and anger on campus, USC announced Friday it was hiring an ex-federal prosecutor to investigate a report by The Times that the former dean of the university’s medical school associated with criminals and drug abusers and used methamphetamine and other drugs with them.
“We are outraged and disgusted by this individual’s behavior,” USC President C.L. Max Nikias said in a letter to the campus community, referring to Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, former dean of the Keck School of Medicine.
USC officials said they had begun the process to strip Puliafito of his faculty tenure and terminate him. In a separate letter to the faculty, Provost Michael W. Quick said the university had just learned about “egregious behavior on the part of the former dean concerning substance abuse activities with people who aren’t affiliated with USC.”
The statements by USC’s top officials were much more strongly worded than comments they made earlier in the week.
Quick said that shift was due to evidence officials reviewed Friday.
“This was the first time we saw such information first-hand,” Quick wrote. “It is extremely troubling and we need to take serious action.”
He did not reveal the evidence or say how it was different from the detailed account of Puliafito’s behavior published in The Times on Monday.
Puliafito is “barred from our campuses and any association with USC, including attending or participating in university events,” the provost said.
Puliafito had continued to represent USC in public as recently as Saturday, when he spoke at a medical education seminar in Pasadena sponsored by the Keck School.
The Times report said that Puliafito used drugs with a circle of much younger people while leading the medical school.
“It is crucial that we understand how these events occurred,” Nikias said in his letter.
The university’s investigation will be overseen by Debra Wong Yang, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles and a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission.
Yang represented USC when it faced a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against USC in 2012 by the parents of two graduate students who were slain off-campus. The suit was dismissed in 2013.
Yang's profile page on the Gibson Dunn website says she has worked as an adjunct professor for USC's law school. It does not say when she taught there. She did not immediately respond to an interview request.
Nikias said that Yang would “conduct a thorough investigation into the details of Carmen Puliafito’s conduct, the university’s response, as well as our existing policies and procedures.”
“All of us must cooperate fully and swiftly” with the investigation, the letter said. “It is critical we understand how and why this happened so we can do everything possible to improve our ability to prevent something like this from happening again.”
Nikias said Yang would present findings and recommendations to the executive committee of the USC board of trustees. He did not say whether the findings would be made public.
Nikias has declined interview requests by The Times, and did not respond to written questions addressing how USC handled the Puliafito affair.
On Monday, when The Times’ lengthy investigation was published, USC announced that Puliafito, 66, had been placed on leave from his positions as a faculty member and Keck eye surgeon, and was no longer seeing patients.
Puliafito, who led the medical school for nearly a decade, resigned his $1.1-million-a-year dean’s post in March 2016, in the middle of the spring term, saying he wanted to explore outside opportunities.
He did not mention that three weeks earlier, a 21-year-old woman had overdosed in his presence in a Pasadena hotel room. The woman was rushed to a hospital, where she recovered. Police found methamphetamine in the hotel room, according to a police report, but made no arrests.
A tip about the episode prompted The Times to investigate. The newspaper interviewed six people who said they partied and used drugs with Puliafito in Pasadena, Huntington Beach and Las Vegas, as well as at USC. They ranged in age from the late teens to late 30s. None were USC students.
Members of the group captured their exploits in photos and videos shot in 2015 and 2016.
In one video, a tuxedo-clad Puliafito displays an orange pill on his tongue and says into the camera, “Thought I’d take an ecstasy before the ball.” Then he swallows the pill.
In another, Puliafito uses a butane torch to heat a large glass pipe outfitted for methamphetamine use. He inhales and then unleashes a thick plume of white smoke. Seated next to him on a sofa, a young woman appears to smoke heroin from a piece of heated foil.
On Wednesday, the current medical school dean addressed angry students.
“These allegations, if they are true, they are horrible and despicable,” Dr. Rohit Varma told the gathering of scores of medical scholars and graduate students at the Keck School of Medicine in Boyle Heights.
“He’s a man who had a brilliant career, all gone down the drain,” Varma said. “I’m standing in this place where my predecessor now has this taint. ... It is sad.”
He also said that Puliafito had sought treatment in the past for alcoholism, but that the allegations in the article that he used drugs “came as a complete shock to us.”
At the meeting on the Keck campus, students — some wearing hospital scrubs — said university administrators should have known more about Puliafito’s troubling behavior, including reports that he appeared drunk or otherwise intoxicated at campus events. One woman said that it “seems shocking that no one has been able to figure anything out in the last 10 years. ... People are now going to be questioning our professionalism.”

Yang was an L.A. Superior Court judge and was appointed U. S. attorney for the Central District of California in May 2002 by President George W. Bush. She is a graduate of Pitzer College and Boston College Law School.

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'We are outraged and disgusted:' USC orders outside investigation of former medical school dean's behavior

Jul 21, 2017 | LA Times

By Paul Pringle, Sarah Parvini and Adam Elmahrek

Faced with mounting anger and questions, USC announced Friday it was hiring an ex-federal prosecutor to investigate reports in The Times that the former dean of the university’s medical school associated with criminals and drug abusers and used methamphetamine and other drugs with them.
“We are outraged and disgusted by this individual’s behavior,” USC President C.L. Max Nikias said in a letter to the campus community, referring to Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, former dean of the Keck School of Medicine.
“It is crucial that we understand how these events occurred,” Nikias said.
The investigation will be overseen by Debra Wong Yang, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles and a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission, which oversees the Los Angeles Police Department. She was an L.A. Superior Court judge and was appointed U. S. attorney for the Central District of California in May 2002 by President George W. Bush. She is a graduate of Pitzer College and Boston College Law School.
He said that Yang would “conduct a thorough investigation into the details of Carmen Puliafito’s conduct, the university’s response, as well as our existing policies and procedures.”
Letter from USC announcing investigation of former medical school dean's behavior
“All of us must cooperate fully and swiftly” with the investigation, the letter said. “It is critical we understand how and why this happened so we can do everything possible to improve our ability to prevent something like this from happening again.”
Nikias said Yang would present findings and recommendations to the executive committee of the USC board of trustees. He did not say whether the findings would be made public.
Nikias has declined interview requests by The Times, and did not respond to written questions addressing how USC handled the Puliafito affair.
On Monday, when The Times’ lengthy investigation was published, USC announced that Puliafito, 66, had been placed on leave from his positions as a faculty member and Keck eye surgeon, and was no longer seeing patients. The school has been struggling to contend with the fallout from the accounts that the renowned ophthalmologist, who headed the medical school for nearly a decade, led a second life involving meth and other drugs he used with a circle of much younger people.
Puliafito resigned his $1.1-million-a-year dean’s post in March 2016, in the middle of the spring term, saying he wanted to explore outside opportunities.
He did not mention that three weeks earlier, a 21-year-old woman had overdosed in his presence in a Pasadena hotel room. The woman was rushed to a hospital, where she recovered. Police found methamphetamine in the hotel room, according to a police report, but made no arrests.
A tip about the episode prompted The Times to investigate. The newspaper interviewed six people who said they partied and used drugs with Puliafito in Pasadena, Huntington Beach and Las Vegas, as well as at USC. They ranged in age from the late teens to late 30s. None were USC students.
Members of the group captured their exploits in photos and videos shot in 2015 and 2016.
In one video, a tuxedo-clad Puliafito displays an orange pill on his tongue and says into the camera, “Thought I’d take an ecstasy before the ball.” Then he swallows the pill.
In another, Puliafito uses a butane torch to heat a large glass pipe outfitted for methamphetamine use. He inhales and then unleashes a thick plume of white smoke. Seated next to him on a sofa, a young woman appears to smoke heroin from a piece of heated foil.
On Wednesday, the current medical school dean addressed angry students.
“These allegations, if they are true, they are horrible and despicable,” Dr. Rohit Varma told the gathering of scores of medical scholars and graduate students at the Keck School of Medicine in Boyle Heights.
“He’s a man who had a brilliant career, all gone down the drain,” Varma said. “I’m standing in this place where my predecessor now has this taint. ... It is sad.”
He also said that Puliafito had sought treatment in the past for alcoholism, but that the allegations in the article that he used drugs “came as a complete shock to us.”

At the meeting on the Keck campus, students — some wearing hospital scrubs — said university administrators should have known more about Puliafito’s troubling behavior, including reports that he appeared drunk or otherwise intoxicated at campus events. One woman said that it “seems shocking that no one has been able to figure anything out in the last 10 years. ... People are now going to be questioning our professionalism.”

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Downfall of Carmen Puliafito, the USC dean who caroused in the underworld

Jul 21, 2017 | The Times (UK)

By Ben Hoyle

Until a few days ago Carmen A Puliafito, an eye surgeon, had a professional status of which most in the academic world could only dream.
According to the University of Southern California (USC), where he worked, he was recognised worldwide as an innovator in his specialist field of ophthalmology. The “visionary academic medical leader” had recruited more than 70 professors and sourced $1 billion in donations during almost a decade as dean of USC’s renowned Keck School of Medicine.
He continued to represent the university after he stepped down last year from the $1.1 million-a-year post to pursue “exciting new career directions”.
This week, however, Dr Puliafito appeared on the front page of the Los Angeles Times, which alleged that the 66-year-old stamp collector and married father of three had led a debauched secret existence during his final year as dean. This included carousing over drink and hard drugs with addicts, prostitutes and criminals “in hotel rooms, cars, apartments and the dean’s office”.
Dr Puliafito apparently developed such an insatiable appetite for risk that he allowed numerous videos and photographs to be taken of him at these gatherings. In one he allegedly smoked from a large meth pipe while a young woman smoked heroin next to him. In another, dressed in black tie, he places an orange pill on his tongue and says “thought I’d take an Ecstasy before the ball”, and swallows it.
USC, known to some as the University of Spoiled Children, was ranked in the top five “party schools” in the country by Playboy magazine in 2012 and 2013.
Usually it’s the students going off the rails. Deans are supposed to be focused on driving up academic standards and charming multimillion-dollar cheques from Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Beverly Hills. Somehow Dr Puliafito managed to carry on doing that without arousing suspicion that something was amiss.
A 22-year-old blonde is alleged to have been at the centre of his double life. Sarah Warren, who was a prostitute when she made his acquaintance, said that they were constant companions for a year and a half, meeting so often in hotel rooms and flats paid for by Dr Puliafito that it was appeared “as if he had nothing else to do”.
One night in Pasadena, during a binge that lasted several days, she overdosed on the date-rape drug GHB. Dr Puliafito picked her up later from the hospital and “we went back to the hotel and continued the party”, she told the newspaper. He resigned as dean three weeks later.

The Medical Board of California is investigating, and USC has placed him on leave. Dr Puliafito was not available to comment and is no longer seeing patients. Fortunately for him, LA loves a comeback. Martin Scorsese beat a cocaine habit that almost killed him to become an acclaimed director, and Robert Downey Jr bounced back from drug addiction and prison to become the best-paid actor in the world. The doctor’s story is a screenplay waiting to happen. Put the three of them together and watch the Oscars stack up.

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USC hires outside attorney to investigate conduct of former Keck dean

Jul 21, 2017 | Daily Trojan

By Diana Kruzman & Emma Peplow

USC has hired an outside attorney to investigate the conduct of former Keck School of Medicine Dean Carmen Puliafito during his time at USC, President C. L. Max Nikias announced Friday in a letter to the USC community.
This comes after a report by the Los Angeles Times found that Puliafito had engaged in drug use, kept company with criminals and partied on campus prior to his resignation in March 2016.
Debra Wong Yang, a partner in the international law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a former Los Angeles federal prosecutor, has been selected to lead the internal investigations. At the conclusion of the investigation, Yang will present her findings and recommendations to the USC Board of Trustees, according to Nikias.
In the letter Nikias said he was “outraged” and “disgusted” by Puliafito’s behavior while at USC.
“It runs counter to our values and everything for which our university stands,” Nikias said.
USC announced Monday that former Keck Dean Carmen Puliafito was no longer seeing patients. | Photo courtesy of Keck School of Medicine
Nikias encouraged all staff members and faculty to cooperate fully with the investigation in order to understand why the events surrounding Puliafito occurred and to prevent them from happening again.
“In this instance, we will look to improve the ways in which we could have recognized the severity of the situation sooner,” Nikias said.
The University said in a statement on Monday that Puliafito is on leave from his positions at USC and is no longer accepting patients. It remains unclear whether Puliafito continued to see patients at the Keck School of Medicine’s Roski Eye Institute after he resigned from his post as dean in March 2016.

His resignation came 10 days after a female companion overdosed on the illicit drug GHB in his presence in a Pasadena hotel room. The Times story stated that an anonymous witness called USC after the overdose to alert Nikias of Puliafito’s involvement, citing phone records that show a six-minute phone call was placed to the president’s’ office on March 14. The University has not confirmed the existence of this phone call.

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Broadcast Media Coverage

KCBS (CBS): SoCal Week in Review

Jul 21, 2017 | KCBS (CBS)

Now on to Carmen Puliafito. CBS 2's jeffrey nguyen reported monday he's also the former dean of usc's school of medicine. this stretches from l.a. to las las vegas to here in huntington beach where woman who claimed to have worked as a prostitute said a doctor pay for living expenses and bought her drugs. this is video of the former dean of the usc tech school of medicine. 2:41 AMhe is seen here hobnobbing with celebrities like jay leno at a gala in 2014. he was the focus of an "l.a times" reporter which he wa linked to a drug overdose involving a young woman who the paper says worked as a prostitute. the pasadena police department released the 911 call that came in from a pasadena hotel. >> is she at all? >> no, she is passed out. i'm a doctor. a spokesman says no charges were filed because the overdose was -- the young woman told the times she and the doctor were constant companions for your and a half and he used drugs with her and sometimes brought her and other members of their circle to the usc campus after hours to party. there was at least one video which he displays his tongue and says into the camera thought i would take in ecstasy. we reached out to him for comment but we can get ahold of them pick of them picked to check checked the medical board's web site and it says his record is clean.

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KFIAM (KFI): Billy Handel

Jul 22, 2017 | KFIAM (KFI)

usc is moving to fire their for a medical school team following a series of explosive delhi china reports about him regularly hearty partying and doing drugs with low level criminals are decades younger than himself he resign . the team last year after a young woman he was with overdose in his hotel room in pasadena but he was still on the faculty and still seeing patients a usc memos sent to faculty yesterday states that the former dean under immediate suspension from the university and is barred from their campuses

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KABC (ABC): Eyewitness News at 6AM and 8AM

Jul 22, 2017 | KABC (ABC)

Usc has ordered an outside investigation into the former dean of the university's medical school. usc says it's hiring an ex-federal prosecutor to look into the actions of doctor carmen puliafito. an l.a. times investigation says he associated with criminals and drug users while he was the dean of the keck school of medicine. the times also says puliafito abused methamphetamines and other drugs. pulifiato is now on leave from his roles at usc, including seeing patients. the school says it's begun the process to completely terminate puliafito's employment and strip him of his faculty tenure.

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KCBS (CBS): CBS 2 News Saturday

Jul 22, 2017 | KCBS (CBS): CBS 2 News Saturday

By KCBS (CBS)

We're outraged and disgusted first public comments from usc are president max, about a scandal at medical school a los angeles times investigation claims former medical school dean carmen lived a secret life for years. now, by day he operated on people and raise ared a billion dollars for the med school but for years the "times" says he abused dangerous drugs and hung out with criminals and a prostitute who overdosed flofnt him now no one one on or if they did they never took action. piewl owe gave up the genes job last year but taught on campus and operated on people. the uscpresident released a letter to the university committee he revealed usc is now moving to terminate him. he's barred from campus and any usc events. and usc has hired a former federal prosecutor to investigate who knew what and when about about piewl owefito behavior and took no action for so long.

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KCBS (CBS) CBS 2 News at 11 AM

Jul 22, 2017 | KCBS (CBS)

Usc is hiring a prosecutor to look into the scandal around its former medical school dean to a los angeles times report claims carmen with the secret life for years. by day he operated on people and raised a billion dollars for the med school but at night the time says he did drugs on how the criminals and a prostitute who overdosed in front of him once. the president said usc is firing him in barring him from campus and in the school events.

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KABC (ABC): Eywitness News at 11 PM

Jul 22, 2017 | KABC (ABC)

Usc has ordered an outside investigation into the former dean of the university's medical school, dr. carmen puliafito. this after an "l.a. times investigation said puliafito associated with criminals and drug users, even abusing drugs himself, all while he was still the dean of the keck school of medicine. the doctor is now on leave from his roles at usc, including seeing patients. the school says it's begun the process to completely terminate puliafito's employment and strip him of his faculty tenure.

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KABC (ABC): Eyewitness News at 6 PM

Jul 21, 2017 | KABC (ABC)

Usc has ordered an outside investigation into the former dean of the university medical center. the university has said they will be looking into the actions of the former dean. the times says he abused methamphetamines and other drugs. he is on leave from his role at the university. the school began the product to terminate his employment and stripped him of his faculty tenure.

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KABCAM (KABC): Red Eye Radio

Jul 24, 2017 | KABCAM (KABC)

Officials used to indicate in an independent investigation to help them to the bottom of the scandal involving the former dean of the university's medical school . all of this is the wake of a lifetime story over the weekend to discuss his repeated unsuccessful attempts by the newspaper requested officials said usc about allegations against carmen poignancy to all those allegations concerning illegal drug use of associating with alleged criminals and drug user . the school is hired former federal prosecutor deborah one yang to delve into the matter

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KNXAM (KNX): Pat Haslam

Jul 24, 2017 | KNXAM (KNX)

New revelations in the investigation of 20 former usc medical school dean and gore told in allegations of drug use of hanging out criminals . billiton assets for more than a year if it repeated questions some very detailed to the university on doctor carmen point if intel the un . he took action to fire the renowned eye surgeon for days after that time story broke last week detail in his bad behavior as something that the hospital is now finally taking a hard look at i'm sure are hoping to high but there heaven wasn't a patient complaint about a problem with anything this guy did during the time that it looks like he might have been partying hard was summoned tabor care ecstasy meister ads u. s. c. had an obligation to at least investigate the information it receives its provo says they did not take action then because the solid evidence wasn't there.

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