Atlanta VA employee accused of drug deals with patients quits his job

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Philip Fritz, seen here in a VA parking garage in July, declined to speak at length with the FOX 5 I-Team. (FOX 5)

Atlanta – An Atlanta VA social worker caught on video allegedly purchasing methadone from patients is no longer on the federal payroll while DeKalb County prosecutors continue to review the evidence against him.

A VA spokeswoman confirmed that Philip Fritz resigned amid the ongoing investigation, effective Aug. 13. That came a week after the FOX 5 I-Team aired clips of cellphone video showing him in his office, allegedly discussing the price with a patient, handling methadone bottles, putting some of them behind his desk and peeling off a label.

The Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center said in a statement that Fritz's departure concludes an internal investigation that lasted more than two years. The social worker kept his job throughout, but in a different position in which he no longer saw patients.

A cellphone video taken by an Atlanta VA patient shows a drug rehabilitation counselor at the time removing the label from a bottle of prescription medication.

“The employee resigned last week before the internal VA investigation was completed, which could have resulted in administrative action, up to and including termination,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office told the I-Team that it received the case file from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, whose Office of Inspector General investigated the veterans' allegations against Fritz but reached an impasse after federal prosecutors passed the case on, according to an earlier statement from the department.

Active investigation

The DeKalb District Attorney's Office has acknowledged the same “legal issues” that may have marred the original investigation. It said prosecution may not be possible, but the district attorney's office will still closely examine the case. A DeKalb spokeswoman declined to comment further on those potential legal issues.

The DeKalb County District Attorney's Office is reviewing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs investigative files related to allegations against a former VA employee from Atlanta. (FOX 5 Atlanta)

“Because this is an active and open investigation, our office cannot provide further comment,” the spokeswoman said by email.

The I-Team contacted Fritz by phone and email to inform him of his resignation, but he did not respond. When a reporter tried to speak with him in July, he declined to answer questions.

“The allegations are false, whatever you think,” Fritz said, immediately before he got into his vehicle and drove away.

The I-Team previously reported that in March 2022, at least three veterans struggling with addiction brought Fritz to light. He was their drug counselor at the time, and they accused him of spending thousands of dollars over the years to purchase their methadone – a narcotic prescribed to addicts to help them get off hard drugs like heroin and fentanyl by easing withdrawal symptoms.

At least three veterans reported to the Atlanta VA in 2022 claiming their drug rehabilitation counselor bought their prescription methadone. (FOX 5)

However, methadone itself is a synthetic opioid that can be abused, can be addictive and is illegal to buy or sell on the black market, a UGA pharmacology and toxicology expert told the I-Team.

“I knew it was wrong”

Two of the veterans who reported Fritz even turned over cellphone videos showing alleged transactions on federal property in Fritz's office, which was part of the medical center's opioid treatment clinic.

Army veteran Ontonio Bradley, who struggles with cocaine and opioid abuse, claimed in a federal court lawsuit that Fritz manipulated him.

Army veteran Ontonio Bradley told the I-Team about selling his methadone: “It's hard to get out of something like that when you're already deep in it.” (FOX 5)

“In my heart, I knew what I was doing was wrong,” Bradley told the I-Team. “For my recovery, I knew it was wrong. But it's hard to get out of something like that when you're already deep in it.”

Bradley and another veterinarian, who asked not to be identified in this story, said they discussed their consultant's actions among themselves and then decided to put a stop to it. Fearing they wouldn't be believed, they said they secretly recorded the conversations in his office.

“I knew I needed physical proof,” Bradley said.

The two men also gave VA investigators screenshots of Cash App receipts showing Fritz paid them thousands of dollars. Bradley told the I-Team that he believes Fritz paid him a total of between $16,000 and $17,000 for his methadone bottles between 2020 and 2022.

Bradley and another veteran filed a lawsuit against Fritz in U.S. District Court last year, accusing him of “unethical coercion and psychological manipulation of the clients in his care.”

The Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center said Philip Fritz's resignation ended an internal investigation that had lasted more than two years. (FOX 5)

“Instead of helping us abstain from using illegal street drugs, we were encouraged to sell him our medications and were told that it was OK to use illegal street drugs because we would most likely use those drugs anyway,” says the complaint, which they filed on their own and without an attorney.

Still state approved

At the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit – not on substantive grounds, however, but because the purchase of methadone was allegedly not part of Fritz's responsibilities at the VA and because the federal government enjoys immunity from civil lawsuits, the judge's order states.

A cellphone video recorded by a VA patient in Atlanta shows a social worker apparently discussing the price and then putting the bottles away behind his desk.

Fritz is also licensed as a clinical social worker with the Georgia Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists.

The state board has not yet responded to questions from the I-Team about the veteran's allegations, and the board's website does not list any disciplinary or board action regarding Fritz's license.