Wisconsin Pharmacist Who Ruined COVID-19 Vaccines Pleads Guilty

The former Wisconsin pharmacist who deliberately allowed hundreds of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to spoil has pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Steven Brandenburg, 46, purposefully botched 57 vials of the vaccine, which officials previously explained was enough to administer to about 570 patients.

Brandenburg entered his guilty plea in federal court on Tuesday morning (February 9). He pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to tamper with a consumer product, WISN reported.

The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed in a news release last month that Brandenburg agreed to plead guilty 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. Each carries a max sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

On Christmas (December 25), Brandenburg left vials containing hundreds of doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine unrefrigerated overnight, causing them to spoil. The doses were worth about $8,000 to $11,000, authorities previously said.

Initially, an internal investigation at the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton found that the vials spoiled because of “unintended human error.”

However, Brandenburg was arrested on New Year’s Eve (December 31), after Aurora Health found that the now-former pharmacist “intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration” and fired him.

Brandenburg apparently “formed this belief that (vaccines) were unsafe,” according to Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol. The former pharmacist believed the vaccines would mutate a patient’s DNA, court documents show.

Brandenburg said he believes in conspiracies and “notions of ‘alternative history,’ and has communicated these same believes to his co-workers at the Grafton Facility for at least the past two years,” according to the plea agreement.

Fifty-seven Aurora employees received vaccine doses that Brandenburg removed, according to WISN. Moderna told the medical center that the doses were still viable even though Brandenburg tried to sabotage them, but those employees still worry.

"The act of sabotage with the intent to place my life in danger has shaken me to my core," one of them wrote in a statement to the court.

“Pharmacists rank among some of the most trusted professionals,” FBI Milwaukee Special Agent in Charge Robert Hughes said in the Department of Justice release. “This individual used his special access to tamper with vials of the much needed COVID-19 vaccine. The FBI takes allegations of consumer product tampering very seriously and will use all available resources to bring those to justice who intentionally put the public’s health at risk.”

Although Brandenburg won’t be detained, a judge ordered a mental health evaluation and GPS monitoring, according to WISN.

Brandenburg is slated for sentencing on June 8.

Photo: Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office