An anti-vaccine doctor best known for losing her medical license after falsely claiming that COVID-19 vaccines cause people to become magnetic and "interface" with 5G towers, has had her medical license restored, according to local media reports.
Sherri Tenpenny, an osteopathic doctor in the Cleveland area, beamed into the national spotlight in June 2021 while giving repelling testimony before state lawmakers about COVID-19 vaccine recipients. "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 said in her viral testimony. "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."Her testimony was in support of a bill that would largely ban vaccine mandates in Ohio. The bill never made it out of committee. But the state's medical board opened an investigation the next month. The board intended to ask Tenpenny a variety of questions, including about her statements "regarding COVID-19 vaccines causing people to become magnetized or creating an interface with 5G towers… and regarding some major metropolitan areas liquefying dead bodies and pouring them into the water supply," according to a board report.
But the board reported that Tenpenny repeatedly refused to cooperate with the investigation, though she continued to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories. In August 2023, the board indefinitely suspended her medical license on procedural grounds for failing to comply with the investigation and issued a civil fine of $3,000.Since then, the board said that Tenpenny has begun interfacing with the board.
"Sherri Tenpenny has met the Medical Board’s conditions for reinstatement including submission of an application for reinstatement, payment of her fine, and certification of cooperation with the board’s investigation to date," a spokesperson for the State Medical Board of Ohio told The Statehouse News Bureau. The board voted to reinstate Tenpenny on April 10, and the reinstatement is effective upon processing the paperwork, the spokesperson said.
The vote was 7–2, according to Cleveland.com. Two physicians on the board voted against the reinstatement. The Statehouse New Bureau noted that voting member Betty Montgomery, Republican former attorney general and auditor, voted with the majority but called her vote a "reluctant yes."
In a social media post last week, Tenpenny wrote, "Standing strong and steadfast! I'm thrilled to share that my medical license has been reinstated."