Doctor surrenders medical license after providing fake COVID exemptions

DURHAM — A local physician voluntarily surrendered her license Friday after providing medical exemptions for COVID vaccines without ever seeing the patients, the state Department of Public Health said.

The Connecticut Medical Examining Board unanimously suspended Dr. Sue Mcintosh’s license last week, saying she poses a “clear and immediate danger to public health and safety,” according to the Associated Press.

In July, DPH received an anonymous complaint that the doctor was providing fraudulent medical exemption forms for the coronavirus vaccines and testing, requirements to wear facial masks and general vaccines, the state agency said.

While investigating the allegations, a DPH official mailed Mcintosh a selfaddressed stamped envelope with his home address on Sept. 11. Five days later, he received the envelope with instructions and the exemptions signed by Mcintosh, according to DPH documents.

Mcintosh provided these forms without seeing the

patient, and the paperwork was sent to anyone who provided a self-addressed stamped envelope to her, DPH said.

“Dr. Mcintosh’s actions are totally unacceptable,” Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani said.

In the exemptions, Mcintosh wrote that the recipient is “highly allergic” to aluminum and mercury and “cannot be vaccinated.” In an exemption from “routine invasive COVID testing,” Mcintosh wrote that many tests “are unreliable.”

The documents showed that at the bottom of her instructions to the recipient, Mcintosh signed, “Let freedom ring!”

Mcintosh’s voluntary surrender will be reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank, a tool that prevents practitioners from moving state to state without disclosing disciplinary action from other jurisdictions.

Any signed, blank exemption forms from Mcintosh are invalid, DPH said.

Officials are trying to determine how many employees of Connecticut’s long-term care facilities received these exemptions. Juthani and other state health department officials sent a memo to hundreds of nursing homes, assisted living centers and other facilities asking them to turn over any exemptions signed by Mcintosh, the Connecticut Mirror reported.

A Tuesday hearing on Mcintosh’s previously suspended license has been canceled, DPH said.

Mcintosh’s case file may be turned over to state or federal law enforcement for consideration, Juthani added.