Inset: Andrew Voegel-Podadera (UW Medicine). Background: Seattle Children's Hospital, where Andrew Voegel-Podadera worked as an anesthesiologist and stole pain meds while underdosing underage patients, including an 11-day-old infant (Google Maps).
An anesthesiologist resident in Washington state was sentenced this week after he admitted to underdosing children, including a "tiny baby," while secretly taking their pain meds "for his own use" — some of it during his shifts, according to court documents.
Andrew Voegel-Podadera, 36, said he took "controlled substances for his own use on roughly half of the 11 days he worked at Seattle Children's Hospital," and he also "secretly took controlled substances when working at Harborview Medical Center and University of Washington Medical Center," going back to January 2024, according to his plea agreement.
Voegel-Podadera pleaded guilty to a federal charge of obtaining controlled substances by fraud in October 2025 and was sentenced this week to a year of supervised release and 200 hours of community service. He confessed to "diverting narcotic pain medication for his own use while treating patients," including an 11-day-old infant.
Voegel-Podadera told investigators that he diverted fentanyl, remifentanil, sufentanil, hydromorphone, dexmedetomidine, ketorolac, ondansetron, and "occasional" benzodiazepines, according to a federal complaint. He only worked 11 days at Seattle Children's Hospital before his drug-stealing scheme was uncovered by other doctors who "became suspicious" of his behavior and reported him, the complaint says.
"He tried to conceal his theft by falsely reporting that vials of controlled substance he returned to the hospital pharmacy were unused wastage when in fact he had refilled them with saline," a sentencing memo from DOJ prosecutors says.
"On December 27, 2024, Voegel-Podadera saw three minor patients at Seattle Children's Hospital," the memo explains. "With the first patient of the day, he began stealing the pain medicines intended for use in his work. By the end of his shift, Voegel-Podadera had taken both fentanyl and hydromorphone, and used some of it while still caring for patients."
Voegel-Podadera told investigators that "generally he would draw up a medication, administer a partial amount to the patient, and take the rest for personal use," according to the complaint. "[Voegel-Podadera] stated he would sometimes take diverted medications during his shift, intravenously," the complaint says. "Voegel-Podadera confirmed that he did this with adult patients and with child patients."
The Seattle anesthesiologist resident would have saline "drawn up, labeled as fentanyl, and administered" to his patients while sneaking away the pain med to use on himself, he admitted.
"Seattle Children's Hospital arranged for all the substances returned by Andrew Voegel-Podadera as wastage on December 27, 2024, to be tested," the complaint explains. "Laboratory analysis found that fentanyl and hydromorphone were absent, and instead the waste syringes appeared to be filled with nothing other than saline solution."
Prosecutors wrote in court filings that Voegel-Podadera's behavior "put numerous people —including very young children—at risk of harm," noting how anesthesiologists are tasked with administering "precise" doses of potent medications.
"What really happened with these and his many other patients will never be known," the sentencing memo concludes.
"This defendant was entrusted with caring for patients, including young and vulnerable patients," said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd in a press release. "It is chilling to think that he took powerful narcotics while a tiny baby needed his full and unimpaired attention."
Voegel-Podadera's attorney admitted in court that the consequences for the now-former physician have been significant. He was terminated, had to surrender his DEA registration that allowed him to prescribe medications, and surrendered his medical license for at least five years, per federal officials.
"Voegel-Podadera said he wished he had sought help for his addiction earlier," officials say. "He has been speaking to groups of medical residents about the danger of addiction."