The United States Attorney-General has ordered charges to be dropped against a plastic surgeon accused of destroying Covid-19 vaccines worth $28 000, distributing fake vaccination record cards, and giving children saline shots instead of the vaccine at their parents’ request, reports the BBC.
AG Pam Bondi said Dr Michael Kirk Moore Jr “gave his patients a choice when the government refused to do so”. He had been indicted by the Justice Department in 2023 and already been on trial in Utah, where he had pleaded not guilty to all charges, including conspiracy to defraud the US.
Moore was accused of providing fraudulently completed vaccination certificates for more than 1 900 vaccine doses, which were allegedly provided without him administering the vaccine at a charge of $50, in exchange for direct cash payments or donations to a specific charity.
The government also accused him of giving children saline shots at their parents’ request so that the “children would think they were receiving a Covid-19 vaccine”.
He was accused, with his company – Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah – and three others of seeking to defraud the US and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Bondi said she had ordered the Justice Department to drop the charges because Moore “did not deserve the years in prison he was facing”.
Moore and other defendants had faced up to 35 years in prison on the multiple charges.
BBC article – US drops charges against doctor accused of destroying Covid vaccines (Open access)
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