Pediatrician Who Traded Drugs for Sex Gets 20 Years in Prison

A former St. Louis County pediatrician was sentenced to 20 years in prison for prescribing pain pills and other drugs in exchange for sex acts, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Craig Spiegel, MD, who is now 70, used his position as a physician to obtain cash, sexual acts, or sexual photographs from at least 19 of his patients, “many of whom he began treating as children,” DOJ noted in announcing the sentence. The crimes occurred from at least 2014 through May 2023.

Instead of referring patients with substance use disorders to treatment, Spiegel exploited them “for his own gratification,” and prescribed them “dangerous combinations of addictive drugs,” DOJ stated. He pressured and harassed reluctant patients through text messages, and became sexually violent with at least one, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Sestric.

Spiegel met one of his victims when she was just 7 or 8 years old, and initiated sexual contact with her years later when she was vulnerable and going through a divorce, according to a sentencing memorandum.

“Dr. Craig Spiegel is no better than a street-level drug dealer,” Chris Crocker, special agent in charge of the FBI’s St. Louis Division, said in a statement. “He knowingly exploited individuals struggling with addiction, not to treat them, but to keep them dependent. For years, he fueled that addiction to ensure a steady stream of victims for his own sexual gratification. Spiegel didn’t just violate his oath as a physician, he preyed on vulnerable women and put their lives at serious risk of overdose.”

MedPage Today has previously reported on sexual violations by physicians and the systems that both enable abuse and attempt to prevent it.

In December, Spiegel pled guilty to one count each of illegal distribution of controlled substances, making false statements related to healthcare matters, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. He was ordered to repay more than $114,000 in losses — the result of his illegal prescribing — to Medicare, and Missouri and Illinois Medicaid.

T.J. Matthes, an attorney for Spiegel, provided MedPage Today with the following statement: “Dr. Spiegel has taken responsibility for his actions that led to a very difficult end to a nearly 40-year career in which he administered great medical care to well over 99% of his patients. The federal sentencing guidelines recommended he be sentenced within a range of 324 to 405 months, but the court sentenced him to 240 months, recognizing that there were several factors in mitigation for Dr. Spiegel.”

A co-defendant in the case, whom Spiegel knew was suffering from addiction and selling some of the drugs he prescribed to her, previously pled guilty to a conspiracy charge, and was sentenced to 21 months in prison in 2024, DOJ noted.

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