Wisconsin pharmacist accused of ruining COVID vaccine doses to plead guilty, feds say

A Wisconsin pharmacist accused of ruining hundreds of COVID-19 vaccine doses is expected to plead guilty to federal charges, authorities say.

Steven Brandenburg, the 46-year-old pharmacist at a hospital in Grafton, intentionally spoiled more than 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine by leaving vials without refrigeration on two separate nights in December, officials said.

He was charged with two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk another person will be put in danger of death or injury.

In the plea agreement, authorities say Brandenburg is skeptical of vaccines, especially the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, a belief he communicated to co-workers at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton.

“Brandenburg believes in various ‘conspiracy theories’ and notions of ‘alternative history,’ and he has communicated these same beliefs to his co-workers at the Grafton facility for at least the past two years,” the plea agreement says.

Initially, the hospital believed the pharmacist inadvertently forgot to return vials to cold storage, which is required for the Moderna vaccine to be effective. In hopes of salvaging the vaccine, the hospital vaccinated 57 employees within a 12-hour limit after the vaccine supposedly went without refrigeration.

However, officials “became increasingly suspicious” of the employee during the investigation, Jeff Bahr, president of Aurora Health Care Medical Group, said at a news conference in December. Then they discovered the pharmacist intentionally left the vaccine out not only Christmas night but also Christmas Eve, Bahr said.

Brandenburg was charged in a Wisconsin court with misdemeanor criminal damage to property and pleaded not guilty last week.

“Distributing the COVID-19 vaccine is critical to overcoming this pandemic, which continues to end lives and upend our economy,” U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Krueger said in a news release. “As these charges show, the Justice Department will pursue anyone — and especially any medical professional — who tampers with the vaccine.”

Brandenburg could sentenced up to 10 years in federal prison for each charge, authorities say.

This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Wisconsin pharmacist accused of ruining COVID vaccine doses to plead guilty, feds say."