![\"\"](\"http:\/\/img.washingtonpost.com\/rf\/image_480w\/2010-2019\/Wires\/Online\/2017-07-22\/AP\/Images\/Ex-Dean_Investigation_35244.jpg-00ad1.jpg?uuid=C4_f-m6DEeervKU0gGcihg\")
\n(Photo by Tonya Wise\/Invision\/AP, File) (Associated Press)<\/span><\/h5>\n
\u201cWe 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\u2019s status,\u201d Quick wrote.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are outraged and disgusted by this individual\u2019s behavior,\u201d USC President C.L. Max Nikias said in a letter announcing the investigation and urging colleagues to cooperate fully.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The paper reported that three weeks before Puliafito\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/<\/p>\n