CLEVELAND — Sherri Tenpenny, the Middleburg Heights doctor who drew national attention when she told state legislators that COVID-19 vaccines made people magnetic, has been sued by the federal government for failing to pay nearly $650,000 in taxes and late fees.
According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Cleveland by the Department of Justice's Tax Division, Tenpenny is accused of failing to pay taxes in 2001, 2012, and 2013. With late fees and penalties included, the DOJ claims that Tenpenny owes a total of $646,929.82.
In comments to Adam Ferrise of Cleveland.com, a 3News partner, Tenpenny claims she is being unfairly targeted by the federal government and has tried for years to clear up her tax issues.
“This shows what the IRS can do to a person that they target,” Tenpenny told Ferrise. “This is a total harassment case. They’ve been doing this to me for 23 years.”
In the court filings, the DOJ said that while Tenpenny has set up "compromise offers" and "installation agreements" in the past, she has not completed paying off what she owes from 2001, 2012, and 2013.
"Despite proper notice and demand, Sherri J. Tenpenny failed, neglected, or refused to fully pay the liabilities described in paragraph 3, and after the application of all abatements, payments, and credits, she remains liable to the United States in the amount of $646,929.82, plus statutory additions and interest accruing from and after April 8, 2024," the DOJ stated in the lawsuit, which you can read below.
Tenpenny told Ferrise that she has been in contact with U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) about her tax issues.
“I can’t tell you the anguish this has caused me over the years,” Tenpenny added to Ferrise. “This is targeting, and it’s horrifying.”
Tenpenny, an osteopathic doctor, has been licensed in Ohio since 1984. She drew national attention in 2021 when she testified before a state legislative panel in support of a measure that would block vaccine requirements and mask mandates.
During her remarks, Tenpenny claimed that COVID-19 vaccines made their recipients magnetic, “interface” with cell towers and interfered with women’s menstrual cycles.
Roughly 350 complaints were soon filed about Tenpenny with the medical board, which regulates physicians and can discipline them for making false or deceptive medical statements. A probe was launched but Tenpenny refused to meet with investigators, answer written questions or comply with a subpoena ordering her to sit for a deposition.
Tenpenny's license was suspended in August 2023 on procedural grounds for failing to cooperate with the investigation. Her attorney had told the board she wouldn’t participate in an “illegal fishing expedition."
Earlier this year, the Ohio State Medical Board voted to restore Tenpenny’s license after she agreed to pay a $3,000 fine and cooperate with investigators.
The Associated Press' Bruce Shipkowski contributed to this report
Previous Reporting:
- Northeast Ohio doctor who claimed COVID-19 vaccine makes you magnetic has her medical license reinstated
- Northeast Ohio doctor who claimed COVID vaccine makes you magnetic under Ohio Medical Board investigation
- Ohio Medical Board renews license of doctor who claimed COVID vaccines make you magnetic
- Northeast Ohio doctor says vaccines make you magnetized. This lawmaker invited her testimony, chair says
