Sherri Tenpenny
Magnetic Vaccines Testimony
Sherri Tenpenny is an osteopathic physician who has devoted her career to anti-vaccine activism, building a profitable business around spreading misinformation about vaccines to audiences that trust her medical credentials. She was identified by the Center for Countering Digital Hate as one of the "Disinformation Dozen," the twelve individuals responsible for producing the majority of anti-vaccine content on social media. Her influence has been amplified by her willingness to make claims so extreme they generate viral attention, even when that attention is largely incredulous.
The most notorious moment in Tenpenny's career came in June 2021, when she testified before the Ohio state legislature that COVID-19 vaccines made people magnetic and could interact with 5G cellular towers. She attempted to demonstrate the magnetic claim by sticking a metal key to her neck during her testimony. The key fell off. The moment was widely shared as an example of how far anti-vaccine misinformation had penetrated into official proceedings, but for Tenpenny's followers, her willingness to testify before lawmakers reinforced her credibility as someone brave enough to speak truth to power.
Beyond the viral moments, Tenpenny has built a systematic business around anti-vaccine content. She sells online courses costing hundreds of dollars that teach people how to argue against vaccination, effectively training an army of misinformation spreaders and profiting from it directly. This creates a financial incentive loop: the more fear she generates about vaccines, the more people enroll in her courses, which generates more revenue to fund more anti-vaccine content. It is misinformation as a business model, with the revenue directly tied to the volume and intensity of false claims produced.
Tenpenny has been removed from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter for repeated violations of misinformation policies, and she has faced complaints to the Ohio State Medical Board. Yet her influence persists through alternative platforms, email lists, and a loyal base of followers who have been systematically trained to distrust mainstream medical consensus. The combination of real medical credentials, profitable course sales, and a willingness to make claims that defy basic physics has made Tenpenny one of the most persistently damaging figures in the anti-vaccine movement.