U of Miami cancer drug thefts topped $14 million

MIAMI – An investigation into the theft of prescription drugs at a University of Miami cancer center has found that the total loss topped $14 million over a three-year period.

The Miami Herald reported Tuesday the thefts weren't discovered until the 2011 arrest of a pharmacy technician at the university's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. The employee, Manuel Gerardo Pacheco, has pleaded not guilty to grand theft and other charges.

The university's school of medicine says its past controls on cancer center drugs failed to detect theft of several expensive cancer drugs. The school now says security has been tightened.

Pacheco's attorney says his client is being made a scapegoat for loss of the entire $14 million in drugs when other employees also had easy access to them.