Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Saturday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will be dropping charges against Dr. Michael Kirk Moore, who was on trial for allegedly issuing fake vaccine cards during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so. He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing,” she wrote in a post on X. “It ends today.”
Moore, a Utah plastic surgeon, was indicted by the DOJ in 2023, along with his corporation and three co-defendants, who were accused of falsely marking COVID-19 vaccine cards with at least 1,937 nonexistent doses, and destroying over $28,000 worth of vaccines provided by the government. Prosecutors alleged that the falsely marked cards were being sold for $50 each, with Moore and his co-conspirators taking the payment in cash, or donation to a charitable organization.
The DOJ under President Biden also alleged that Moore was distributing saline shots to children at their parents’ request, leaving the children to believe that they in fact had been vaccinated. Moore’s attorneys argued that the CDC’s vaccine regulations at the time were unconstitutional.
Moore had pleaded not guilty along with one co-defendant, both of whom were in the middle of their criminal trials in Utah. One of the remaining co-defendants pleaded to a misdemeanor charge, and the remaining co-defendant entered into a diversion agreement with the court, meaning that the individual agreed to some form of penalty (e.g. a fine, community service work, counseling etc.). The DOJ has not yet clarified as of this writing whether they are also dismissing the charges against Moore’s co-defendants.
A report from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services from October of last year found that one out of every twelve Utahns is experiencing long COVID, a chronic condition associated with infection from the virus that lasts at least three months after recovery. Symptoms are broad-ranging, and include fatigue, memory problems, lightheadedness, shortness of breath, fast heartbeat, chest pain, changes in taste and smell, according to the report.
According to the Utah Division of Professional Licensing’s online portal, Michael Kirk Moore’s license to practice medicine remains active.
