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State council on Wednesday suspended the license of a Wisconsin pharmacist accused of ruining more than 500 doses of COVID-19 vaccine because he believed in doomsday conspiracy theories and believed the drug would mutate DNA people.
Steven Brandenburg, 46, worked at Advocate Aurora Health in Grafton, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, when he was arrested last month following an investigation into the 57 spoiled vials of Moderna vaccine.
He has not been criminally charged. A status conference is scheduled for Tuesday.
The Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board said in its order that Brandenburg cannot practice pharmacy while the suspension is in place.
Steven Brandenburg, 46, is accused of wasting 57 vials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which officials said contained enough doses to inoculate more than 500 people
The Moderna vaccine (seen in this Jan. 5, 2020 photo at a clinic in Livingston, MT) is viable for 12 hours outside of refrigeration, so workers used the vaccine to inoculate 57 people before throwing the rest away.
He said Brandenburg agreed to the action “in order to focus” on possible charges against him.
Brandenburg attorney Jason Baltz did not immediately respond to a phone message left by The Associated Press Wednesday night.
Aurora Health Care lawyer medical group director Jeff Bahr said Brandenburg admitted to deliberately removing the vials from the refrigeration at Grafton Medical Center.
A detective wrote in a probable cause statement that Brandenburg, 46, is a recognized conspiracy theorist and told investigators he intentionally tried to ruin the vaccine because it could hurt people by modifying their DNA.
Misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines has surged online with false claims circulating about vaccine ingredients and possible side effects.
One of the first false claims suggested that vaccines could alter DNA.
The Pfizer vaccine and BioNTech as well as the Moderna vaccine rely on messenger RNA or mRNA, a relatively new technology used in vaccines that experts have been working on for years.
MNA vaccines help train the immune system to identify the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus and create an immune response.
Experts said there was no truth to the claims that vaccines can genetically modify humans.
The eight-year-old Brandenburg wife filed for divorce in June. The couple have two small children.
Brandenburg has since been fired from Advocate Aurora Health in Grafton, 20 miles north of Milwaukee, after the spoiled vials were discovered last week.
According to an affidavit his wife filed on December 30, the same day Brandenburg was arrested in connection with the falsification of the vaccine, he stopped by her home on December 6 and left a water purifier and two supplies. of 30 days of food, telling her the world was “falling apart” and she was in denial.
He said the government was planning cyber attacks and was going to shut down the power grid.
She added that he stored bulk food with guns in rental units and she no longer felt safe around him.
Bahr said Brandenburg admitted to deliberately removing the vials from the refrigeration of Grafton Medical Center overnight December 24-25, returning them, and then leaving them again overnight December 25-Saturday.
A pharmacy technician discovered the vials outside the refrigerator on December 26.
Bahr said Brandenburg initially said he removed the vials to access other items from the refrigerator and inadvertently failed to put them back.
The Moderna vaccine is viable for 12 hours outside of refrigeration, so workers used the vaccine to inoculate 57 people before throwing the rest away.
Police said the rejected doses were worth between $ 8,000 and $ 11,000.
Bahr said the doses people received on December 26 were virtually unnecessary.
But Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol said in a virtual court hearing last week that the vials were indeed kept and Moderna should test the doses to make sure they were ineffective. before they can lay charges.
Dr Jeff Bahr, president of the Aurora Health Care medical group in Wisconsin, revealed that Brandenburg Brandenburg admitted he had deliberately removed the vials from the refrigeration at Grafton Medical Center.
Brandenburg lawyer Jason Baltz did not speak to the substance of the case at the hearing.
Gerol declined to press charges, saying he has yet to determine whether Brandenburg actually destroyed the doses.
Judge Paul Malloy ordered Brandenburg to be released on $ 10,000 bail, surrender his guns, not work in health care, and have no contact with Aurora employees.
A court commissioner last week found the children of Brandenburg to be in imminent danger and temporarily banned them from staying with him.
He was arrested on suspicion of reckless endangerment, altering a prescription drug, and criminal damage to property.
Charges are still pending and the FBI and FDA are also investigating.
Those who received the vaccine from the tampered vials have been notified and the company is working with Moderna and the FDA on a strategy to properly vaccinate these people.
Authorities said there should be no negative effects from receiving the vaccines that have been rendered ineffective.
“ Moderna reassured us, there is no safety issue in administering a vaccine that has been out of the refrigerator for too long. We will partner with them and with the FDA to develop a strategy on the future vaccination of the 57 affected people, ”Bahr said.
There is also “ no evidence ” that Brandenburg tampered with the vaccine in any way other than taking it out of the fridge, Bahr said.
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