Seattle doctor arrested in investigation of trading forged prescriptions for sex

Dr. Leonard D. Hudson's pioneering work with severe lung injuries has helped save thousands of lives and has been recognized across the world, according to colleagues. Over his long career at Harborview Medical Center, he's trained hundreds of doctors, inspired colleagues to enter the field and remained empathetic toward patients.

So when news broke Tuesday that the 72-year-old was accused of repeatedly trading prescription drugs for sex with a 22-year-old prostitute who has an addiction problem, colleagues were stunned.

"He's a fantastic physician, perhaps the best I know," said Dr. Robb Glenny, who heads the University of Washington's division of pulmonary and critical-care medicine. "He's compassionate, considerate, knowledgeable and very much a patient advocate."

Dr. Hudson turned himself in to authorities through an arrangement with his attorneys. His license to practice medicine has been suspended by the state Department of Health (DOH).

King County sheriff's detectives accuse Hudson of committing 34 counts of prescription forgery over a five-month period. Prosecutors have yet to review the case to make a charging decision.

Hudson has 20 days to respond to his medical suspension and request a hearing.

Documents in the case allege Hudson continued supplying the woman with drugs even after law-enforcement authorities contacted him in January and after the woman suffered an overdose in March.

The DOH's Medical Quality Assurance Commission alleges the following:

Last October, Hudson responded to a website on which a woman was advertising as a prostitute. Between then and March, he provided the woman, who was not a patient, with prescription drugs and money in exchange for sex.

The commission says he wrote the woman prescriptions for 500 tablets of the narcotic OxyContin, as well as prescriptions for Percocet and Alprazolam (the ingredient in the brand-name drug Xanax). He also is alleged to have filled a prescription for OxyContin naming as the patient a 16-year-old girl who was a friend of the prostitute, so that the teen's health insurance would cover the cost.

Concerns were first raised in December when Medco Health Solutions notified Hudson that the 22-year-old might face side effects from mixing other drugs she'd been prescribed by a different doctor with the OxyContin Hudson had prescribed.

Police got in touch with Hudson the following month when the woman's parents discovered evidence of some of her prescriptions, according to the commission's documents. A detective told Hudson the woman might be abusing prescription medication, to which Hudson responded that he'd monitor her drug use, the documents say.

Then on March 1, the mother of the 16-year-old contacted Hudson by phone after discovering a prescription, according to the commission. The mother later filed a police report.

Two days later, the prostitute suffered an overdose and was admitted to a hospital. Despite his awareness of the overdose, Hudson continued giving the woman prescriptions, the commission alleges.

Hudson could not be reached Tuesday. His lawyer, Ronald Friedman, said in a statement that Hudson "has been cooperating with authorities" and "any questions raised by the current medical-board inquiry should and will be addressed in the appropriate forum."

Dr. Glenny said he became aware of the case only Monday and didn't know all the facts.

Another of Hudson's colleagues, Dr. Randall Curtis, who is head of pulmonary and critical-care medicine at Harborview, described Hudson as an expert researcher and "the most compassionate physician I've ever worked with."

"I think this has been hard and has been a shock for him," Curtis said. "I think he's holding up OK. He's an incredible man."

Curtis said Hudson helped pioneer a new ventilation strategy for patients admitted to the hospital with severe lung injuries, which could be caused by anything from severe infections to car accidents.

In the past, patients were pumped with a quantity of air based on a normally functioning lung — which doctors didn't realize could aggravate an injured lung. Hudson helped develop a new approach called "underventilation," which gives injured people less air.

"Thirty years ago, patient mortality was 60 percent. Now it's down to 25 percent," Curtis said. "Hudson has built an internationally renowned center for patient care, research and education, and trained generations of doctors."

Hudson earned his medical degree from the UW and later was chief medical resident at Harborview. He joined the UW faculty in 1973 and in 1979 became the first appointee to the endowed chair in pulmonary- disease research.

At Harborview, he served as medical director of the intensive-care unit and the respiratory-therapy department. Hudson also had privileges at the UW Medical Center and taught in the UW's School of Medicine.

He's served as president of the American Thoracic Society and the American Lung Association of Washington.

Last year, the Lung Association and Thoracic Society awarded Hudson the Trudeau Medal, which each year recognizes one doctor's contribution to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung disease.

Court documents indicate Hudson, who lives in West Seattle, got a divorce in 1992.

Colleagues say he is also a skilled potter who has exhibited his work.

Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report. Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com. Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com

Information in this article, originally published May 25, 2010, was corrected May 27, 2010. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Dr. Leonard Hudson was arrested while doing his rounds Monday. He was not arrested while at the hospital.