MADISON, Wis (AP) – Authorities on Thursday arrested a Milwaukee pharmacist in the suburbs on suspicion of deliberately destroying hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine by removing it from the refrigerator for two nights.
The Grafton police station said the former attorney Aurora Health Pharmacist was arrested on suspicion of reckless threat, which is the prescription of a prescription drug and criminal case damage. The department said in a news release that he was in jail. Police have not identified the pharmacist and said he has not yet been formally charged.
His motive remains unclear. Police said detectives believed he knew the spoiled doses would be useless and that people receiving them would mistakenly think they were vaccinated if they did not.
Aurora Health Care Chief Medical Officer Jeff Bahr told reporters during a teleconference Thursday afternoon that the pharmacist intentionally put 57 vials containing hundreds of doses of Moderna vaccine in the refrigerator at Grafton Medical Center from Dec. 24 to Dec. 25. removed. gave them back and then left them out again the night of December 25th to Saturday. The vials contain enough doses to vaccinate 570 people.
A pharmacy technician discovered the bottles outside the refrigerator Saturday morning. Bahr said the pharmacist initially said he had removed the vaccine to gain access to other items in the refrigerator, and that he had not accidentally replaced it.
The Moderna vaccine is still viable outside refrigeration for 12 hours, so workers used the vaccine to vaccinate 57 people before throwing away the rest. Police said the discards were worth between $ 8,000 and $ 11,000.
Bahr said health care officials became more suspicious of the pharmacist as they reviewed the incident. After multiple interviews, the pharmacist admitted Wednesday that he deliberately removed the vaccine and left it out overnight Dec. 24 to Dec. 25, bringing it back in the refrigerator at some point and then removing it again overnight Dec. 25 to Dec. 26.
Bahr said that means the doses people receive on Saturday are almost useless. Moderna told Aurora that there are no security issues, but the system is keeping a close eye on it, he said.
Bahr declined to comment on the pharmacist’s motive.
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