WI Pharmacist In Vaccine Incident Charged With Misdemeanor

GRAFTON, WI—A former pharmacist of Advocate Aurora Health Hospital, who is accused of trying to ruin hundreds of Moderna vaccine doses because he believed them to be unsafe, was charged on Tuesday.

According to online court records, Steven Brandenburg, 46, was charged with attempted felony criminal damage to property in Ozaukee County, online court records show. The charge is a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $10,000 or up to nine months in prison or both.

During his court appearance Brandenburg pleaded not guilty. His next court date is March 18.

Brandenburg is accused of intentionally trying to ruin hundreds of COVID-19 vaccine doses by taking them out of refrigeration for two nights. The damaged doses were estimated to be worth up to $11,000.

On Dec. 30, an investigator with the Aurora Medical Center produced an email confession from a pharmacist, later identified as Brandenburg, according to the criminal complaint.

Brandenburg stated, “I intentionally removed the box of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna on two separate occasions, once on December 24th and once on December 25th. I did so with the purpose of allowing the vaccine to be outside the temperature range so that it would not be effective," the complaint said.

At first Brandenburg said that this had occurred by accident, the complaint said. In a follow up interview that morning, he admitted to doing so intentionally and followed up with the email statement, the complaint said.

In a public statement, Aurora officials said that the vaccine doses had been rendered less effective or ineffective, and that the remaining vials of vaccine had been discarded. The Aurora investigator also informed a detective that the remaining vials of vaccine had been destroyed. That was later amended with a statement that they had in fact been preserved and segregated, the complaint said.

Brandenburg admitted to intentionally trying to destroy the vials of the vaccine, removing the 57 vials from their container within the pharmacy refrigerator, the complaint said. He said that each vial contains ten doses of the vaccine and he had tried to destroy them because his research had led him to believe that the vaccine was unsafe for people and altered their DNA, the complaint said.

Brandenburg is an "admitted conspiracy theorist," according to the Grafton Police Department.

On Dec. 24, Brandendburg removed the container containing the vials during his shift and placed it on the ground for three hours before putting it back into refrigeration, the complaint said.

The next day, he removed it again and placed it on the ground for approximately nine hours, believing that the total time the vaccine was unrefrigerated was 12 hours, the complaint said. A pharmacist put the container back in the refrigerator and told her supervisor, the complaint said.

Brandenburg claimed that it was a spontaneous act and that he wasn’t thinking straight due to ongoing personal matters and lack of sleep, the complaint said.

On Jan. 5, Dr. Randall N. Hyer, of Moderna Pharmaceuticals subsequently wrote that the vaccine would not have been rendered less effective if it was only left at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Moderna later provided guidance on testing the remaining vials of vaccine at issue for efficacy, and that testing protocol is proceeding, the complaint said.

A judge set Brandenburg's bond at $10,000. Brandenburg who is out on bail is to have no contact with Aurora employees.

Brandenburg's pharmacy license has been suspended and he cannot practice while the suspension is in place.

Both vaccines approved for use in the U.S. so far, made by Pfizer and Moderna, have gone through phase three trials and have been given emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, indicating that they are safe.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the data from clinical trials demonstrates that the known and potential benefits of the vaccines outweigh the known and potential harms of becoming infected with the coronavirus.