Connecticut doctor’s license suspended for providing blank, signed COVID-19 exemption forms, health department says

By Sahar Akbarzai, CNN

A Connecticut doctor’s state physician and surgeon license has been suspended for providing blank, signed exemption forms related to the Covid-19 vaccine, Covid testing, general vaccines and medical opposition to wearing facial masks, the state Department of Public Health said.

Connecticut’s Medical Examining Board suspended the license through a unanimous decision last week, the department said in a news release.

Retired physician Sue Mcintosh of Durham, who is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics, was giving signed forms to people without physically meeting them or examining them, the department said. She would provide the exemption forms to anyone who provided a self-addressed stamped envelope requesting one, they said.

Mcintosh provided signed medical exemption forms for vaccines and masks, and told people they could copy and distribute the signed forms to anyone, according to documents in the Connecticut Medical Examining Board’s meeting agenda.

Mcintosh sent instructions to people who requested the forms, according to the documents, saying “Keep blank copies for yourself for future use,” and, “let freedom ring!”

CNN has reached out to Mcintosh for comment.

“These actions by Dr. Mcintosh are irresponsible and unacceptable,” said Dr. Manisha Juthani, Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Public Health, in a statement. “Her practice of medicine represents a clear and immediate danger to the public health and safety of our communities.”

Juthani said the signed exemption forms from Mcintosh are invalid. They include forms she provided to people who work in long-term care, in schools or for the state who were seeking medical exemptions.

According to the DPH release, “an exemption calls for a clinical assessment of the patient’s condition to determine if a vaccination poses a risk to the patient’s health.”

Anonymous tip to the health department

The Department of Public Health received an anonymous complaint in July alleging Mcintosh’s misconduct.

The anonymous complaint said “all one must do is send a self addressed stamped manila envelope to her address for every person you would like an exemption for and she will mail signed documentation for you to fill out ‘certifying’ an allergy,” according to the Medical Examining Board’s documents.

In September, an investigator for the department mailed a self-addressed envelope to the doctor with his home address. The envelope was sent back with four forms authorizing exemptions for face masks, Covid vaccines, Covid testing and vaccines in general, plus instructions, according to the documents.

Mcintosh’s license to practice as a physician in Connecticut is suspended pending the board’s final determination about the allegations, the health department’s news release said.

In August, Gov. Ned Lamont announced that he had issued an executive “requiring that all Connecticut state employees and staff of all childcare facilities and preK-12 schools statewide must have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by September 27,” according to a news release.

“Those who do not get vaccinated due to certain exemptions will be required to be tested for COVID-19 on a weekly basis. However, state hospital and long-term care employees will not have the option of being tested in lieu of vaccination,” the release said.

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