LATimes | In USC’s lecture halls, labs and executive offices,
Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito was a towering figure. The dean of the Keck
School of Medicine was a renowned eye surgeon whose skill in the
operating room was matched by a gift for attracting money and talent to
the university.
There was another side to the Harvard-educated physician.
During
his tenure as dean, Puliafito kept company with a circle of criminals
and drug users who said he used methamphetamine and other drugs with
them, a Los Angeles Times investigation found.
Puliafito,
66, and these much younger acquaintances captured their exploits in
photos and videos. The Times reviewed dozens of the images.
Shot
in 2015 and 2016, they show Puliafito and the others partying in hotel
rooms, cars, apartments and 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.
As
dean, Puliafito oversaw hundreds of medical students, thousands of
professors and clinicians, and research grants totaling more than $200
million. He was a key fundraiser for USC, bringing in more than $1
billion in donations, by his estimation.
