Pharmacist pleads guilty after attempting to destroy virus vaccines
Steven Brandenburg admitted to removing 57 vials of the Moderna vaccine from the storage at Advocate Aurora Health Hospital
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pharmacist has been formally charged after he tampered with hundreds of doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
Steven Brandenburg, 46, pled guilty to attempting to tamper with the COVID-19 vaccine in federal court on Tuesday. He told officials he was skeptical of the Moderna vaccine.
Brandenburg allegedly took boxes of the vaccine out of the refrigerator where they were being stored and purposely left them out on December 24 and 25.
Records: Steven Brandenburg removed the same box of #Moderna vaccine from fridge on consecutive days. Officials still trying to determine if the tampering rendered them ineffective for the 57 people who received doses from that box. @WISN12Newspic.twitter.com/8XQcTH3n2x Derrick Rose (@DRoseTV) January 26, 2021
Brandenburg later told investigators he believed the vaccine was unsafe. On the morning of December 26, 2020, 57 individuals at the Grafton Facility received doses of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine that Brandenburg had previously removed from refrigeration. Efforts to determine whether Brandenburg’s misconduct had rendered those doses inert or otherwise harmful are ongoing, the plea agreement reads.
Co-workers told investigators Brandenburg believed in various conspiracy theories. He was also going through a divorce, and his actions with the vaccine led a judge to suspend his custody and visitation with his children.
Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol said Moderna scientists believe the vaccine can withstand 24 hours at room temperature without losing effectiveness. The doses Brandenburg left out were outside refrigeration for three hours on one night and nine on another.
Wisconsin pharmacist who sabotaged COVID-19 vaccine to plead guilty to federal charges
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The Wisconsin pharmacist who pulled dozens of COVID-19 vaccine vials from a hospital refrigerator, agreed to plead guilty in federal court of attempting to tamper with the vaccine, a review by sister station WISN 12 News of the plea agreement determined.
The agreement, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, allowed Steven Brandenburg, of Grafton, to avoid an indictment by a federal grand jury and plea to two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products, with reckless disregard for the risk that another person will be placed in danger of death or bodily injury, the records show.