Sherri Tenpenny

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Sherri J. Tenpenny is an American osteopathic physician and a prominent anti-vaccine activist. She has written four books opposing vaccination, including a well-known one called Saying No to Vaccines. Her medical license in Ohio was indefinitely suspended in 2023 for not participating in investigations, but it was restored in 2024.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toledo in 1980 and a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1984. Tenpenny worked as the director of the emergency department at Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay, Ohio from 1986 to 1998, and she opened several osteopathic practices in 1994, 1996, and 2011.

In 2015, her planned lecture tour in Australia was canceled after public objections to her strong anti-vaccine views. She has also run a six-week, paid course with her partner Matthew Hunt to teach how to spread vaccine misinformation and doubt, and she earns commissions by promoting anti-vaccine videos made by others.

Tenpenny’s activities have included affiliate marketing and using social media to spread misinformation. Her Facebook page was deactivated in 2020, and a 2021 analysis found her to be one of the main sources of anti-vaccine content across several platforms. She has appeared on video platforms like Rumble, which do not have strict policies against disinformation.

She has promoted false claims anti-vaccine supporters have circulated, such as vaccines causing death or autoimmune diseases, and she has argued that vaccines magnetize people or connect to cellphone towers. These ideas have been widely debunked. She has faced multiple platform removals for misinformation, including suspensions from Twitter and YouTube in 2021.

In 2022, Tenpenny posted content with anti-Semitic references about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She has also claimed that vaccines would turn people into “transhumanist cyborgs” and suggested vaccines could cause severe long-term health effects, claims that lack scientific support. A 2021 research report highlighted her as an extreme example of a few physicians spreading disproven vaccine claims. She also participated in fundraising for RFK Jr. in 2023.

Overall, Tenpenny is seen by public health experts as a leading source of vaccine misinformation, a view supported by multiple health organizations and fact-checkers.