A hospital worker stole hundreds of tablets, touted as a possible remedy for the new coronavirus. Now he faces up to 4 years and 4 months in prison for theft and receiving stolen goods.
The California hospital employee is accused of stealing hundreds of pills of hydroxychloroquine, a drug against malaria, which is studied as a possible treatment for patients with coronavirus.
Officials said that Christopher Agustin (35 years old), a former pharmacist at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, went to the hospital 2 times last month and stole more than 700 tablets and antibiotic azithromycin, which are part of the drug «cocktail» against malaria, which the President touted trump as a potential tool to fight COVID-19.
The TORRANCE resident was charged Wednesday in 2 paragraphs of theft in a period of crisis 2 degrees and 1 point of storage of stolen property. Stolen pills worth $6700, according to the district attorney’s office Los Angeles.
Though trump and his supporters are touting the hydroxychloroquine as a means of coronavirus, a new study published this week, showed that the drug does not give any advantage in the treatment of coronavirus led to more deaths among patients with COVID-19.
A national study conducted with infected patients in hospitals for veterans, found that died, 28% of those who were given a cure for malaria, and provided routine care, compared with 11% of those who died, receiving only traditional treatment. In addition, 22% of patients who took the cure for malaria with azithromycin, also died, according to the study.
Agustin was released on bail on Wednesday. If convicted, he faces up to 4 years 4 months in prison.
