Doctor’s license suspended over blank, signed COVID-19 exemption forms, officials say

A Connecticut doctor’s license was suspended last week over allegations that she handed out blank COVID-19 vaccine exemption forms, officials said.

The Connecticut Medical Examining Board suspended the physician and surgeon license of retired physician Sue Mcintosh, the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH) said in a statement last Friday.

In documents related to the case, the department said it received an anonymous complaint in late July alleging that Mcintosh was providing “fraudulent vaccine exemptions through the mail” as well as exemptions for mask use. 

In the complaint, which was included in the documents, a person wrote that, based on their understanding, all one had to do was send a self-addressed stamped manila envelope to Mcintosh’s address for “every person you would like an exemption for.” Mcintosh would then sign the exemption certifying an “allergy.”

Earlier this month, a department investigator sent a self-addressed stamped envelope to McIntosh’s address. In return, the investigator said, they received instructions for medical exemptions as well as blank exemptions for vaccinations, face masks and “routine, invasive COVID testing,” the documents said.

In a statement, DPH Commissioner Manisha Juthani called Mcintosh’s actions “irresponsible and unacceptable.”

“The suspension of her license should serve as a warning to other practitioners that this conduct deviates from the standard of care and is subject to serious discipline,” Juthani said. 

Juthani added that said that any signed, blank exemptions from Mcintosh are invalid.

The Hill has reached out to Mcintosh for comment.