July 12--The former chief cancer pharmacist at UW Hospital was sentenced Monday to a year of probation and a $4,000 fine for stealing tens of thousands of pain pills from the hospital's pharmacy to feed an addiction.

Joseph A. Theisen, 58, of Madison, told U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman that he is ashamed of making what he called disastrous and selfish choices that hurt his family and friends and put his colleagues in a bad position.

"I take full responsibility for my actions," Theisen said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Jarosz said that over a five-year period, Theisen falsified drug records at UW Hospital to steal about 62,000 pills, which included 12,240 methadone pills. While Theisen took the pills for his own use, Jarosz said, he did not use all of them and threw many away in attempts to kick his addiction, but would steal more.

There was no evidence that Theisen was selling the pills or that his thefts interfered with patient care, Adelman said.

Theisen has since received drug treatment, said his attorney, Daniel Musser.

Although Theisen faced up to four years in prison after pleading guilty in April to obtaining controlled substances by fraud, federal sentencing guidelines put his recommended sentence at up to six months in prison. Adelman said that because Theisen had no prior criminal record and has since done extensive volunteer work for Narcotics Anonymous, there was no need to send him to prison.

Theisen was fired from the hospital in April 2009.

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