On March 5, 2025, a pediatric anesthesiologist at UCSF was arrested after reportedly being found unconscious with an IV needle and a syringe containing propofol at the facility, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report summarized by a California law-firm blog. Propofol is a fast-acting sedative used to induce general anesthesia.
The physician's attorney stated that she had been suspended for 10 days in January 2025 and transferred campuses before the March incident. UCSF declined to comment, citing personnel confidentiality. The source does not describe any criminal charges, a Medical Board of California action, or how the drug was obtained.
After the arrest, the physician took a voluntary leave and entered residential treatment for substance use, according to her attorney. The blog author, a physician-defense lawyer quoted in the Chronicle story, argued that allowing the physician to keep accessing drugs while treating children after the January suspension put patients at risk, and used the case to advocate for a confidential treatment pathway for California physicians, which the Medical Board has said it plans to propose.