SEATTLE, Wash. — An anesthesiology resident from the University of Washington Medical School who worked at Seattle Children’s Hospital, UW Medicine, and Harborview Medical center has been charged with using medicine intended for children while on the job.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Seattle, 35-year-old Dr. Andrew Voegel-Podadera was charged with two counts of Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Misrepresentation, Fraud, Deception, and Subterfuge.
The DEA said an attending physician at Seattle Children’s suspected Voegel-Podadera was showing signs of drug use while on the job, including unexplained delays and absences from the operating room.
On December 27, 2024, the attending watched Voegel-Podadera draw up more fentanyl than was needed for at least three children.
Upon inspecting the used syringes later, the attending reported they had been filled with a saline solution.
“Diverting medicine away from infant patients is despicable, doubly so if the person involved is a doctor,” said David F. Reames, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “If Dr. Voegel-Podadera is convicted, it will show that he violated both his oath and the law, and I am proud that DEA could help stop him.”
The DEA began to investigate, and said agents discovered Voegel-Podadera had been using controlled substances intended for children while working at Seattle Children’s Hospital, the University of Washington Medical Center, and Harborview Medical Center since at least January 2024.
He was found to have taken fentanyl, remifentanil, sufentanil, hydromorphone, and other controlled substances while treating children.
Voegel-Podadera was service with an Immediate Suspension order by the DEA on June 12, 2025, and arrested on June 24.
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