Medical license reinstated for doctor who made false claims against COVID-19 vaccines
View a previous report on the investigation into the doctor's magnetism claim in the video player above.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A doctor who falsely claimed in a legislative hearing that COVID-19 vaccines connected to 5G cell towers has had her medical license reinstated.
Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, a Cleveland-area osteopathic physician and outspoken anti-vaccine advocate, was indefinitely suspended from practicing medicine last August after the state medical board found she repeatedly failed to cooperate with the board’s investigation into her. On April 10, the medical board voted to reinstate her license on a probationary basis, according to state licensing records.
On Thursday evening, Tenpenny took to social media to announce her license was reinstated, posting on X that she was "thrilled" to share the news.
"Thank you all for your unwavering love and support but most importantly for your prayers during these challenging times," Tenpenny wrote.
Tenpenny made national headlines in 2021 when she testified in support of a ban on vaccine mandates before an Ohio House committee without evidence that COVID-19 vaccines "magnetized" people and connected them to 5G 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," she testified. "They can put a key on their forehead. It sticks. They can put spoons and forks all over them and they can stick, because now we think that there’s a metal piece to that."
It is not clear what originally prompted the investigation into Tenpenny, but last August the board said she evaded multiple requests for an interview, ignored letters detailing the accusations against her, and never submitted required responses. Months after the investigation was initially launched, according to a letter sent to Tenpenny in September 2022, she replied through her attorney that she "did not believe the Board had a lawful basis" for the investigation.
Tenpenny also ignored an investigative subpoena for a deposition, reiterating that she did not believe the investigation was lawful. She declined to attend an investigative conference after for the same reason.
Tenpenny, who was first licensed in 1984, unsuccessfully appealed her suspension. To be reinstated, she had to submit a statement from the board's enforcement division that she complied with all subpoenas and other investigatory requests from the board, according to the board's suspension order.
The medical board found that Tenpenny satisfied its requirements, a spokesperson for the medical board said.
Tenpenny operates a "health restoration center" in Cleveland that offers external counter pulsation, commonly used to treat chest pain but which Tenpenny claims can treat erectile dysfunction, kidney failure, high blood pressure and Alzheimer's. She also runs a multidisciplinary health center in Middleburg Heights that advertises itself as "known for getting people well and symptom-free without pharmaceutical drugs," according to its website.