In USC’s lecture halls, labs and executive workplaces, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito ended up being a figure that is towering. The dean of this Keck class of Medicine had been a distinguished eye doctor whose ability into the working space ended up being matched by a present for attracting cash and skill towards the college.
There clearly was another part towards the Harvard-educated physician.
During his tenure as dean, Puliafito kept business having a group of crooks and medication users who said he utilized methamphetamine as well as other medications together with them, a l. A. Instances research discovered.
Puliafito, 66, and these much more youthful acquaintances captured their exploits in pictures and videos. The Times reviewed a large number of the pictures.
Shot in 2015 and 2016, they reveal Puliafito additionally the other people partying in girls live on cam resort rooms, vehicles, flats while the dean’s workplace at USC.
A tuxedo-clad Puliafito displays an orange product on their tongue and states in to the camera, “Thought I’d simply take an ecstasy prior to the ball. In one single movie” he then swallows the capsule.
An additional, Puliafito works on the butane torch to heat up a glass that is large outfitted for methamphetamine usage. He inhales and then unleashes a thick plume of white smoke. Seated close to him for a settee, a woman that is young heroin from an item of hot foil.
As dean, Puliafito oversaw a huge selection of medical pupils, tens of thousands of teachers and clinicians, and research funds totaling a lot more than $200 million. He had been a fundraiser that is key USC, bringing much more than $1 billion in contributions, by their estimation.
Puliafito resigned their $1.1-million-a-year post in March 2016, in the middle of the spring term, saying he wished to explore outside opportunities.
Three days earlier in the day, a woman that is 21-year-old overdosed inside the existence in a Pasadena accommodation. The lady ended up being hurried to a medical center, where she recovered. Police discovered methamphetamine within the college accommodation, according to a authorities report, but made no arrests. Puliafito never talked publicly concerning the event, which will be being reported right right here for the very first time.
After he stepped straight down as dean, USC kept Puliafito in the medical college faculty, in which he will continue to accept brand new clients at campus attention clinics, in accordance with Keck’s internet site. He is also a main witness in a $185-million lawsuit where the University of Ca has accused USC of misconduct in its employing away of the celebrity researcher.
Puliafito would not react to interview demands or written concerns. Reached by phone a week ago, he hung up without commenting after hearing a quick summary of this Times’ reporting.
Earlier, in a message he provided for the newsprint soon after resigning as dean, Puliafito stated the move was made by him voluntarily to be able to pursue a biotech job.
“Bottom line, I became dean for almost ten years. It absolutely was great, but I happened to be open and ready to jumping in these possibilities if they came along, ” he composed.
USC President C.L. Max Nikias and Provost Michael Quick, who had been Puliafito’s employer, would not react to repeated demands for information on the circumstances Puliafito’s that is surrounding resignation. Nor did the college press workplace.
Whenever reporters visited Nikias’ workplace to inquire of in regards to the former dean, their chief of staff, Dennis Cornell, told them: “The president won’t be talking with the changing times about this matter. ”
The changing times interviewed six those who partied with Puliafito in Pasadena, Huntington Beach and Lbecause Vegas, also at USC. They ranged in age from belated teens to belated thirties. None had been USC pupils.
One, Sarah Warren, had been the lady whom overdosed into the Pasadena accommodation. She told the days she came across Puliafito at the beginning of 2015 while being employed as a prostitute. She stated they certainly were constant companions for over per year. 5, and therefore Puliafito utilized medications her and other members of their circle to the USC campus after hours to party with her and sometimes brought.
“He will say, ‘They love me around here. The medical students think i will be Jesus, ’” Warren stated.
Puliafito doesn’t have known criminal history, and public documents reveal no blemishes regarding the medical licenses he holds in Ca and three other states. Overview of court public records in those states discovered no malpractice claims against him.
He could be respected in neuro-scientific ophthalmology and frequently addresses medical practioners at nationwide conventions and training seminars. Within the final ten years, he has coauthored a lot more than 60 medical journal articles on retinal infection along with other topics. The state agency that oversees stem cell research since 2008, he has served on the governing board of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine.
It had been a tip in regards to the incident when you look at the Pasadena resort that led the right times to find out Puliafito’s other life.
Prior to 5 p.m. On March 4, 2016, a worker associated with resort Constance, an upscale Colorado Boulevard landmark, called 911 to report that a visitor had experienced an overdose that is apparent.
The resort worker transported a Fire Department dispatcher to a room that is third-floor. A guy responded, identified himself as a health care provider and stated their companion’s condition was not severe, relating to a recording of this call.
“My gf right right right here had a number of drinks and she’s sleeping, ” he told the dispatcher. Expected perhaps the woman had taken whatever else, he replied, “I think simply the liquor. ”