Dr Michael Kirk Moore Jr., who was accused of destroying Covid-19 vaccines worth $28,000 (£20,742), distributing fake vaccination record cards, and giving children saline shots instead of the vaccine at their parents’ request, has been let off by US attorney general Pam Bondi.
According to the BBC, Bondi said Moore, who had been indicted by the Justice Department under the Biden administration in 2023, “gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so”.
The plastic surgeon was already on trial in Utah, where he had pleaded not guilty to all charges including conspiracy to defraud the US.
The US Attorney’s office in Utah said in 2023 that Moore provided fraudulently completed vaccination certificates for more than 1,900 vaccine doses.
These were allegedly provided, without administering the vaccine, for 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,” according to the US attorney’s office.
The BBC reports that he was accused alongside his company − Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah, Inc. − and three others of seeking to defraud the US and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In an X post on Saturday, Bondi wrote that she had ordered the Justice Department to drop the charges because Dr Moore “did not deserve the years in prison he was facing”.
[Image: https://plasticsurgeryinstituteutah.com/team/dr-kirk-moore/]