After Grafton Pharmacist Spoils COVID-19 Vaccines, Destroying Drugs Now A Felony In WI

WISCONSIN — People in Wisconsin who destroy vaccines or other drugs can face up to three and a half years of prison time after new legislation was signed into law, Gov. Tony Evers announced Friday.

Anyone who intentionally mishandles or stores a vaccine or other therapeutic drug and renders it ineffective will be charged with a Class I felony, the law text said. Offenders can face a fine up to $10,000 and prison time up to three and a half years, the governor's office said.

"Under the bill, it will be a Class I felony to recklessly handle, store or treat a vaccine, drug or any other biologic product used as a therapeutic treatment in a manner that may render the vaccine, drug or product unsafe, tainted, spoiled, ineffective or otherwise unusable," according to a memo shared in the Wisconsin Legislative Council.

The law was enacted Friday and was authored by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. Evers signed 18 bills into law on Friday.

Steven Brandenburg, an ex-pharmacist in Grafton, was sentenced to three years in prison in June 2021 for tampering with COVID-19 vaccines in the hospital he worked, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

The ex-pharmacist took a box of vaccine vials out from a refrigeration unit and left them out for two nights to let them spoil in December 2020, the department said.

The spoiled doses were given to 57 people before authorities found out what Brandenburg had done.

See Also: Ex-WI Pharmacist Who Tried To Spoil COVID-19 Vaccines Sentenced

Brandenburg told the Department of Justice that he was skeptical of vaccines in general. He also admitted to believing in other conspiracy theories, like ones about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, The Associated Press reported.