The former dean of the University of Southern California's medicine school has a history of partying with young criminals and allegedly taking meth and ecstasy with them.

An investigation by the Los Angeles Times uncovered the sordid history of Dr Carmen Puliafito, 66, who abruptly quit his job last year soon after a 21-year-old woman overdosed in his Pasadena hotel room.

The woman, named as Sarah Warren, was rushed to hospital after the overdose in March 2016 and was able to recover. Police found meth in the hotel room but no one was ever arrested.

Dr Carmen Puliafito, the former dean of the University of Southern California's medicine school, has a history of partying and allegedly taking meth and ecstasy with criminals

He resigned as dean of Keck School of Medicine three weeks later after a witness to the overdose informed police and USC of Puliafito's behavior.

Puliafito's secret life was chronicled in photos and video shot between 2015 and 2016 by his drug-related friends.

The woman, named as Sarah Warren, was rushed to hospital after the overdose in March 2016 and was able to recover. Police found meth in the hotel room but no one was ever arrested

The footage, reviewed by the Times, allegedly shows him taking pills and smoking from glass meth pipes.

It showed Puliafito - a renowned eye surgeon - partying with others in hotel rooms, cars and even the dean's office at USC.

He was filmed once showing an orange pill on his tongue before he swallowed it and said: 'Thought I'd take an ecstasy before the ball.'

The surgeon was also filmed heating a glass meth pipe, inhaling and blowing out white smoke.

Puliafito, nor USC, would not comment on the allegations.

Warren said she met Puliafito while working as a prostitute in 2015. They saw each other regularly and she claims they would often spend the night together in hotel rooms he paid for.

When she overdosed, Puliafito told the 911 operator he was a doctor.

'My girlfriend here had a bunch of drinks and she's sleeping,' he told the dispatcher. When asked if the woman had taken anything else, he replied: 'I think just the alcohol.'

The 66-year-old abruptly quit his job as dean of Keck School of Medicine in March last year soon after a 21-year-old woman overdosed in his Pasadena hotel room

Puliafito (right) is pictured standing next to Arnold Schwarzenegger at the opening a USC clinic in 2010

Several men, most with criminal convictions, said Warren had introduced them to Puliafito. They claimed he had given them drugs like meth while they partied.

Puliafito, who is married with three children, oversaw hundreds of medical students, professors research grants as dean of USC's med school.

He was also heavily involved in fundraising and attended star-studded USC galas where he would pose behind celebrities, including Jay Leno, Gwyneth Paltrow and Pierce Brosnan.

When he resigned from his $1.1 million job, the Harvard graduate said it was to explore outside opportunities.

Puliafito heavily involved in fundraising and attended star-studded USC galas where he would pose behind celebrities, including Jay Leno. They are pictured above in 2014

Puliafito helped invent a laser technology to help diagnose and treat eye disease.

He also worked as director of the University of Miami's Bascom Palmer Eye Insitute from 2001 to 2007 before taking up his post at USC.

He was once hit with a lawsuit by an optometrist while working at the Miami university accusing him of assault and battery in 2006. Puliafito denied wrongdoing and him and the university reached a settlement with the optometrist the following year.

He is still on faculty at USC and his website says he still sees new patients at campus eye clinics.

Puliafito does not have a criminal record.