Doctor to get A Kaiser doctor arrested and charged in U.S. District Court a week ago for allegedly importing controlled substances for personal use has agreed to participate in substance abuse treatment in Oregon.
drug abuse treatment
The anesthesiologist posts a bond
and agrees to get helpBy Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.comPeter Edward Fong, an anesthesiologist at the Moanalua medical center, was released from custody yesterday after posting a $20,000 cash bond and $100,000 property bond. He was expected to leave shortly for the treatment program.
Fong was arrested Sept. 19 with three packages containing controlled substances that he picked up from a private mailbox before driving to work, according to prosecutors.
The packages, which had arrived two days earlier and had been intercepted by U.S. postal inspectors, contained chemical solvents GBL and BD, which can be converted into the controlled substance gammahydroxybutric acid, or GHB, more commonly known as the "date rape drug."
GHB, GBL and BD, commonly used as "party drugs," are highly addictive and sometimes are ingested by bodybuilders to stimulate muscle growth, according to the federal complaint.
Fong told federal authorities he ordered the drugs not for bodybuilding, but because he had trouble sleeping. He said he believed it was legal to order the drugs.
He was charged in U.S. District Court with importing the controlled substances and for being an unlawful user of a controlled substance while possessing firearms.
Federal authorities said they seized five firearms, two of them loaded, from his home after he was arrested. They also said they discovered other drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy tablets and anaerobic steroids, which he claimed to have prescribed for himself. He admitted those drugs were for his personal use, federal authorities said.
William Harrison, Fong's attorney, told the court yesterday that Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay the cost of his treatment and that the mainland facility was ready to admit him.
Fong waived his right to a preliminary or evidentiary hearing. The U.S. attorney's office originally wanted him detained but later agreed with a pretrial recommendation that he go into drug treatment. Fong is expected to appear before the court for a status hearing upon completion of his treatment.
U.S. Magistrate Leslie Kobayashi found that the conditions placed on Fong were sufficient to ensure his appearance in court and that he was not a danger to the community. The conditions prohibit him from possessing or using any firearms or illicit drugs or being with anyone who uses or possesses drugs.