A University of Wisconsin pharmacist fired for drug abuse pilfered more than 27,000 tablets of powerful narcotics from the cancer clinic he worked for, according to a case file released by the state regulatory agency that disciplined him last month.
Nearly 25,000 of the pills Joseph A. Theisen, 56, diverted for his own use over three years were methadone, a synthetic opiate used as a pain medication and as a treatment to get addicts off heroin, according to documents in the file.
Theisen told a supervisor he didn’t recall taking the methadone, but added, “Chances are quite good that I’m responsible for that.”