A former Wisconsin pharmacist who pleaded guilty to spoiling 57 vials of COVID-19 vaccine will spend three years in federal prison. Forty-six-year-old Steven Brandenburg from Grafton was also ordered to pay more than $83,000 in restitution to the hospital at sentencing today.
Court documents say Brandenburg purposefully removed a box of Moderna vaccine vials from a hospital refrigeration unit during two overnight shifts in late December. Brandenburg admitted that he was skeptical of the vaccine and returned the spoiled vials to the refrigerator the next day. Fifty-seven patients received the doses before Brandenburg’s conduct was discovered.
