Medical board suspends license of doctor who said COVID vaccines make people magnetic

Laura A. Bischoff, Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·2 min read
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False testimony from Sherri Tenpenny, an osteopathic doctor from suburban Cleveland, before the Ohio House Health Committee went viral in June 2021. The state medical board suspended her license in August 2023.
False testimony from Sherri Tenpenny, an osteopathic doctor from suburban Cleveland, before the Ohio House Health Committee went viral in June 2021. The state medical board suspended her license in August 2023.

More than two years after Dr. Sherri Tenpenny told state lawmakers that the COVID vaccines cause people to become magnetized, the state medical board indefinitely suspended her license on technical grounds and fined her $3,000.

Tenpenny refused to answer medical board questions and failed to show up for a deposition and an investigative conference, according to state records. Tenpenny, licensed in Ohio since 1984, contended that the board exceeded its authority and had no legal basis for an investigation.

In June 2021, Tenpenny shared her views, promoted her credentials and fielded questions for more than 45 minutes during a House Health Committee hearing on House Bill 248. She claimed that COVID vaccines "interfaced" with cell phone towers.

"I'm sure you've seen the pictures all over the internet of people who have had these shots and now they're magnetized," Tenpenny, of Middleburg Heights in Cuyahoga County, said. "You can put a key on their forehead, it sticks. You can put spoons and forks all over and they can stick because now we think there is a metal piece to that."

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After video of the hearing went viral, the medical board received more than 350 complaints regarding Tenpenny. The board asked Tenpenny for her evidence and sources to back up her claims about the COVID-19 vaccines, including an allegation that it was a ruse to inject people with genetic material and that patients suffered multiple complications.

The board also asked her to back up her claims about "some major metropolitan areas liquifying dead bodies and pouring them into the water supply."

Supporters of Tenpenny said she was targeted by the board.

"Sherri has been leading the educational fight on vaccine risk awareness for over two decades. Sherri is one of the founding members of Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom in 2015," according to the Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom. "She was on the front lines of this issue long before the doctors who emerged during Covid made it more politically acceptable to question the 'science'."

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio medical board suspends license of doc who made false COVID claims