A Washington University pediatrician has allegedly been exchanging prescription drugs for sex and cash with patients for a decade — an illicit practice federal prosecutors say he continued even after one of the women he supplied narcotics to overdosed and died.
Prosecutors wrote in a complaint filed in federal court yesterday that Craig Spiegel has doled out “over 73,000 controlled substance pills” to at least 25 individuals, though the complaint states the number of people he’s illicitly provided pills to is probably higher. There was “no legitimate medical purpose” for the doctor to give these people drugs, which authorities say he distributed in a “tit-for-tat” nature, giving them to female patients in exchange for sexual favors and to other patients in exchange for money.
Spiegel allegedly supplied drugs to people he knew to be drug addicts or to people he knew were diverting the drugs to others, including children.
Spiegel is charged with illegal distribution of a controlled substance and is facing up to 20 years in prison, if found guilty.
Prosecutors say that Spiegel is a man “undeterred by any consequence to his actions.” Not only did he continue the drugs-for-sex scheme after a 40-year-old patient overdosed and died, he continued with the illegal behavior even after federal authorities served a search warrant at his clinic. He sat for an extensive interview with agents and “was expressly questioned about the dangerous conduct in which he was engaged,” then continued with the conduct apace.
According to court filings, one of Spiegel’s patients has accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex on him in a public bathroom. Another patient, a minor, has complained of Spiegel being “inappropriate” with her during a medical exam.
Federal prosecutors say they have abundant evidence against the doctor, including thousands of text messages sent between Spiegel and his patients. Those include Spiegel texting, “You owe me big time,” and instructing a woman to “[w]ear fewer layers” at an upcoming meeting. In another instance, he texted that he’d sent her prescriptions “assuming [she] would hold up [her] end.”
Spiegel met many of these women when they were children, and he was their pediatrician, according to the complaint against him.
Prosecutors have asked that Spiegel be kept behind bars as his case works its way through the court system, claiming he would be a danger to the community otherwise. The charges, they say, are “extraordinarily serious.”
The authorities also argue that Spiegel may be a flight risk if not confined. He appears to be in the process of selling his $1.2 million home and has moved into one worth half as much. He has also recently booked flights to Detroit and Florida.
Spiegel is still listed on the Washington University School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics website. What appears to be a previous listing with SSMHealth now results in a 404 message. Spiegel’s LinkedIn page says he’s been the owner of his own medical practice since 1993.
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