Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mistakenly reported the University of Southern California knew about Dr. Puliafito's illicit drug use "for years". According to the university, USC had received a number of complaints about Dr. Puliafito over the years. But in 2016 when Puliafito resigned, "no university leader was aware of any illegal or illicit activities, which would have led to a review of his clinical responsibilities." KPCC sincerely regrets the error.
Just when you thought things couldn't get worse for USC, there's more news about how the school handled bad behavior from its former medical school dean.
"USC knew about a number of complaints against Puliafito throughout the years," according to the LA Times, though the university says no official was aware that any of his activities was illegal or illicit."
Now that the story has grown into a scandal, how should an institution like USC mitigate the blow back?
To find out, Take Two's A Martinez spoke with Dan Loeterman. He's Vice President of Public Relations and Crisis Management at Cerrell Associates, an LA based communications firm.