Pharmacist accused of stealing drugs from cancer treatment center

$6,395 worth of painkillers stolen

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A pharmacist is accused of stealing $6,395 worth of painkillers from a Volusia County cancer treatment center, according to the Daytona Beach Police Department. 

A nurse at the Radiology Oncology Center at Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach found a vial of hydromorphone floating in an employee restroom toilet on June 28 and alerted the pharmacy manager, who then realized 750 doses of hydromorphone were missing, the report said.

When confronted by the pharmacy manager, Matthew Kaye, 44, admitted to stealing the missing pain pills, according to authorities. Police said the manager placed him on administrative leave and then fired him after the results of his drug test came back.

The manager then conducted a thorough review of the medications that were dispensed versus what was actually given to patients between July 1, 2016 and June 30 and found that hydrocodone, hydromorphone, lorazepam, meperidine, morphine sulfate and oxycodone were missing. The drugs totaled to $6,395.

Kaye was arrested Tuesday on charges of theft of a controlled substance and trafficking in hydromorphone.


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