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Sherri Tenpenny

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Sherri Tenpenny
Short-haired blonde woman on a stage speaking into a headset microphone, wearing an animal stripe jacket with a bare lightbulb and draped cloth behind her
Tenpenny in 2021
NationalityAmerican
OccupationOsteopathic physician
Years active1986–present
Known forAnti-vaccine activism
Notable workSaying No to Vaccines
Websitedrtenpenny.com
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Sherri J. Tenpenny is an American anti-vaccination activist and conspiracy theorist who promulgates disproven hypotheses that vaccines cause autism.[1] An osteopathic physician by training, she is the author of four books opposing vaccination. In 2023 the State Medical Board of Ohio indefinitely suspended Tenpenny's medical license for failure to participate in its investigations. Her license was restored in 2024.[2]

Her 2015 lecture tour of Australia was canceled due to a public outcry over her absolute vaccine opposition, which fails to acknowledge established scientific consensus.[1] A 2021 Center for Countering Digital Hate analysis concluded that Tenpenny is among the top twelve people spreading COVID-19 misinformation and pseudoscientific anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms. She has falsely asserted that the vaccines magnetize people and connect them with cellphone towers.[3][4][5]

Education and career

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Tenpenny graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toledo in 1980 and received a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri in 1984.[6] From 1986 to 1998, Tenpenny was the director of the emergency department at Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay, Ohio. She opened an osteopathic practice in 1994 and went on to establish two more practices in 1996 and 2011.[7]

Anti-vaccination activism

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Tenpenny had scheduled a speaking tour in Australia to occur starting in February 2015, but in January, after objections were raised to her anti-vaccination views, all the venues at which she was scheduled to speak cancelled the talks, and the tour was called off.[8][9] Tenpenny has been criticized by the Stop The Australian Anti-Vaccination Network for "endangering people's health" and "targeting vulnerable parents".[7]

Since 2017, Tenpenny and her business partner, Matthew Hunt, have taught a six-week, $623 course titled "Mastering Vaccine Info Boot Camp" designed to "sow seeds of doubt" regarding public health information. During the course, Tenpenny explains her views on the immune system and vaccines, and Hunt instructs participants on how best to use persuasion tactics in conversation to communicate the information.[10]

Tenpenny promotes anti-vaccination videos sold by Ty and Charlene Bollinger and receives a commission whenever her referrals result in a sale,[11] a practice known as affiliate marketing.[12]

A Facebook page managed by Tenpenny was deactivated in December 2020 as part of the social network's efforts to reduce the amount of misinformation on the platform.[13] Nevertheless, a March 2021 analysis of Twitter and Facebook anti-vaccine content found Tenpenny to be one of 12 individual and organization accounts producing up to 65% of all anti-vaccine content across several social media platforms.[4] Some of Tenpenny's interviews with anti-vaccination activists and conspiracy theorists have attracted a large audience on Rumble, a video-sharing platform that does not have policies against disinformation.[14]

COVID-19 misinformation

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Tenpenny advocated against the use of face coverings as a COVID-19 mitigation tool[15] despite scientific evidence in favor of their effectiveness.[16][17][18][19]

In a February 2021 video, Tenpenny falsely claimed that COVID-19 vaccines cause death and autoimmune diseases, saying "Some people are going to die from the vaccine directly, but a large number of people are going to start getting horribly sick and get all kinds of autoimmune diseases, 42 days to maybe a year out". There is no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines cause autoimmune diseases or death.[20][21][22]

In an April 2021 BitChute video, Tenpenny reiterated false claims that COVID-19 vaccines lacked testing and led to long-term health effects. Neither statement contained scientific merit or accuracy.[23] On May 17, 2021, Reuters refuted Tenpenny's claim that COVID-19 vaccines affect sperm and fertility. The news organization reiterated that there is no scientific evidence to back such false claims.[24]

Called by Republicans as an expert witness before a June 2021 hearing of the Ohio House Health Committee, Tenpenny promoted the false claim that COVID-19 vaccines cause people to become magnetized such that metal objects stick to their bodies, adding "There’s been people who have long suspected that there’s been some sort of an interface, yet-to-be-defined interface, between what’s being injected in these shots and all of the 5G towers".[25][26][27] The video of her testimony was widely circulated, and in early July 2021 Twitter permanently suspended Tenpenny's account for "violating its COVID-19 misinformation policy".[28][29] Her YouTube account was removed in September 2021 for breaking the company's policies on COVID-19 misinformation.[30]

As Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Tenpenny claimed in posts laden with anti-semitic references that this event was manufactured as a distraction to mask new pandemic restrictions.[31] In 2022 she claimed that COVID-19 vaccines will turn people into "transhumanist cyborgs"[32] and predicted that "by the end of 2022, every fully vaccinated person over the age of 30 may have the equivalent of full-blown vaccine-induced immune suppressed AIDS".[33]

A December 2021 de Beaumont Foundation report cited Tenpenny as one of two extreme examples of a "small subset of [...] physicians" making "disproven claims" about COVID vaccines.[34][35]

Tenpenny participated in an online fundraising event to support the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The round table, held June 27, 2023, brought together several prominent anti-vaccination activists, such as Mikki Willis, Sayer Ji, Charles Eisenstein, Del Bigtree and Joe Mercola.[36]

Medical license suspension

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On August 9, 2023 the State Medical Board of Ohio indefinitely suspended Tenpenny's medical license and imposed a $3,000 fine after two years of refusal to respond to questions or participate in her board hearings.[37][38][39] Her license was restored in 2024.[2]

Published works

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  • Tenpenny, Sherri J. (2008). Saying No to Vaccines: A Resource Guide for All Ages. Middleburg Heights, Ohio: NMA Media Press. ISBN 978-0-97909-104-9.
  • Tenpenny, Sherri (2006). FOWL! Bird Flu: It's Not What You Think. Sevierville, Tenn.: Insight Pub. Co. ISBN 978-1-93286-387-1.
  • Tenpenny, Sherri (2006). The Risks, the Benefits, the Choices, a Resource Guide for Parents. Sevierville, Tenn.: Insight Publishing. ISBN 978-0-97434-482-9.
  • Tenpenny, Sherri (2005). A Healthier You!. Sevierville, Tenn.: Insight Publishing. ISBN 978-1-93286-385-7.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Anti-vaccination views are misguided - but not illegal". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b Mole, Beth (7 May 2024). "Doc who claimed COVID shots cause magnetism gets medical license back". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 7 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  3. ^ Salcedo, Andrea (9 June 2021). "Morning Mix A doctor falsely told lawmakers vaccines magnetize people: 'They can put a key on their forehead. It sticks.'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  4. ^ a b Srikanth, Anagha (24 March 2021). "12 prominent people opposed to vaccines are responsible for two-thirds of anti-vaccine content online: report". The Hill. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  5. ^ Bischoff, Laura A. "GOP-invited Ohio doctor Sherri Tenpenny falsely tells Ohio lawmakers COVID-19 shots 'magnetize' people, create 5G 'interfaces'". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  6. ^ Tenpenny, Sherri. "Sherri J. Tenpenny, DO, AOBNMM (CV)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Sherri Tenpenny: Who is the controversial anti-vaccination campaigner planning to visit Australia?". ABC News. 7 January 2015. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  8. ^ Medew, Julia (29 January 2015). "US anti-vaccination campaigner Dr Sherri Tenpenny cancels tour of Australia". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  9. ^ Milman, Oliver (7 January 2015). "Sydney venue cancels seminar by US anti-vaccine activist Sherri Tenpenny". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  10. ^ Pedersen, Katie; Szeto, Eric; Tomlinson, Asha (26 March 2021). "Marketplace attended a COVID-19 conspiracy boot camp to see how instructors are targeting vaccine skeptics". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  11. ^ Smith, Michelle R.; Reiss, Johathan (14 May 2021). "Inside one network cashing in on vaccine disinformation". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Pandemic Profiteers" (PDF). Center for Countering Digital Hate. Center for Countering Digital Hate. 1 June 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  13. ^ Dwoskin, Elizabeth; Gregg, Aaron (18 January 2021). "The Trump administration bailed out prominent anti-vaccine groups during a pandemic". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  14. ^ Mak, Aaron (18 March 2021). "Where Anti-Vaccine Propaganda Went When YouTube Banned It". Slate. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Dr. Sherri Tenpenny - Face Masks Are Not Effective Against COVID-19: How Masks Are Being Used To Control The Population". Digital Freedom Platform. 28 July 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  16. ^ Offeddu, Vittoria; Yung, Chee Fu; Low, Mabel Sheau Fong; Tam, Clarence C. (13 November 2017). "Effectiveness of Masks and Respirators Against Respiratory Infections in Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 65 (11): 1934–1942. doi:10.1093/cid/cix681. ISSN 1058-4838. PMC 7108111. PMID 29140516.
  17. ^ Eikenberry, Steffen E.; Mancuso, Marina; Iboi, Enahoro; Phan, Tin; Eikenberry, Keenan; Kuang, Yang; Kostelich, Eric; Gumel, Abba B. (1 January 2020). "To mask or not to mask: Modeling the potential for face mask use by the general public to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic". Infectious Disease Modelling. 5: 293–308. arXiv:2004.03251. doi:10.1016/j.idm.2020.04.001. ISSN 2468-0427. PMC 7186508. PMID 32355904.
  18. ^ Cheng, Vincent Chi-Chung; Wong, Shuk-Ching; Chuang, Vivien Wai-Man; So, Simon Yung-Chun; Chen, Jonathan Hon-Kwan; Sridhar, Siddharth; To, Kelvin Kai-Wang; Chan, Jasper Fuk-Woo; Hung, Ivan Fan-Ngai; Ho, Pak-Leung; Yuen, Kwok-Yung (1 July 2020). "The role of community-wide wearing of face mask for control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic due to SARS-CoV-2". Journal of Infection. 81 (1): 107–114. doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2020.04.024. ISSN 0163-4453. PMC 7177146. PMID 32335167.
  19. ^ Lyu, Wei; Wehby, George L. (16 June 2020). "Community Use Of Face Masks And COVID-19: Evidence From A Natural Experiment Of State Mandates In The US". Health Affairs. 39 (8): 1419–1425. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00818. ISSN 0278-2715. PMID 32543923. S2CID 219724836.
  20. ^ Funke, Daniel (4 March 2021). "COVID-19 vaccine does not cause death, autoimmune diseases". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  21. ^ Kasprak, Alex (1 March 2021). "Will mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Wreak 'Havoc on The Lungs' in 4 to 14 Months?". Snopes.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  22. ^ Fauzia, Miriam (28 May 2021). "Fact check: No definitive evidence COVID-19 vaccine causes autoimmune disease". USA Today. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  23. ^ AFP (28 April 2021). "US Doctor Makes False Claims About COVID-19 Vaccines". Boom. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  24. ^ "Fact Check-No evidence mRNA COVID-19 vaccines affect sperm". Reuters. 17 May 2021. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  25. ^ Bischoff, Laura A. (9 June 2021). "GOP-invited Ohio doctor Sherri Tenpenny falsely tells Ohio lawmakers COVID-19 shots 'magnetize' people, create 5G 'interfaces'". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  26. ^ Ingles, Jo (11 June 2021). "Ohio House Speaker Says False Testimony On 'Magnetizing' Vaccines Won't Change Policies". WOSU. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Sherri Tenpenny makes false COVID-19 vaccine magnetism claim to Ohio lawmakers". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  28. ^ Jankowicz, Mia. "Twitter bans anti-vaxxer who pushed the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 shots make people magnetic". businessinsider.com. Business Insider. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  29. ^ Anderson, Chris (July 2021). "Twitter suspends account of Ohio doctor who claimed COVID-19 vaccine causes magnetism". cleveland19.com. 19 News. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  30. ^ Alba, Davey (29 September 2021). "YouTube bans all anti-vaccine misinformation". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  31. ^ Butler, Kiera (2 March 2022). "Pro-Putin Disinformation on Ukraine Is Thriving in Online Anti-Vax Groups". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  32. ^ Bollinger, Alex (31 January 2022). "Prominent Christian doctor claims COVID vaccines will turn people into "transhumanist cyborgs"". LGBTQ Nation. Archived from the original on 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  33. ^ Gage, Brandon (3 April 2022). "Anti-vax activist claims COVID-19 vaccines cause AIDS". Salon. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  34. ^ Disinformation Doctors: Licensed to Mislead (PDF). De Beaumont Foundation (Report). December 2021. p. 28. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  35. ^ Blake, Aaron (9 June 2021). "Sherri Tenpenny's bizarre anti-vaccine testimony was a long time coming". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  36. ^ Merlan, Anna (28 June 2023). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Gives the Game Away". Vice News. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  37. ^ Zuckerman, Jake (9 August 2023). "This doctor said vaccines magnetize people. Ohio suspended her medical license". cleveland.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  38. ^ Bischoff, Laura A. (10 August 2023). "Medical board suspends license of doctor who said COVID vaccines make people magnetic". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  39. ^ Rissman, Kelly (10 August 2023). "Ohio doctor who claimed Covid vaccines make people magnetic has licence suspended". The Independent. Archived from the original on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
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