Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark

Episode: Vaccines, Flu Shots, Circumcision & Hep B On Grocery Carts? | Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, DO

Date: December 2, 2025
Host: Alex Clark (Turning Point USA)
Guest: Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, DO

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into controversial topics surrounding childhood vaccinations, the safety and necessity of vaccines, common birth interventions (like vitamin K injections and circumcision), and broader issues around public health, pharmaceutical industry practices, and informed consent. Alex Clark interviews Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, an osteopathic physician known for her critical stance on vaccines, to explore claims about risk, medical autonomy, and cultural health narratives.

With an audience of parents and people concerned about the health and wellbeing of children, the conversation scrutinizes both scientific claims and medical authority, while offering perspectives and strategies counter to mainstream advice. Dr. Tenpenny shares insights from her 25+ years of research and advocacy, including her own recommendations for detox and vaccine "risk mitigation."

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Dr. Tenpenny’s Core Position on Vaccines

• Claim: No vaccines have been proven safe, effective, or necessary.

  "Vaccines have never been proven to be safe. They don't keep you from getting sick. None of them are necessary. There are millions of unvaccinated kids in this country now that aren't sick... Every single vaccine causes a level of harm."
  — Dr. Tenpenny (00:00)

• Parental Choice: Dr. Tenpenny maintains that even parents choosing a slower, “customized” schedule are still exposing their child to "poison."

  "A little poison is still poison."
  — Dr. Tenpenny (00:28)

• Whistleblower Framing: Dr. Tenpenny positions herself as a long-time whistleblower targeted for her views (01:00–02:45).

2. Genetics, Family History, & Vulnerability to Vaccine Reactions

• Neglected Considerations: Dr. Tenpenny explains that medicine ignores family history of vaccine reactions and inborn errors of metabolism which may affect detoxification (02:46).

  "We never ask the new mom or the new dad, does anybody in your family have a history of vaccine injury?"
  — Dr. Tenpenny (02:58)

• Iodine Deficiency: Claims that American mothers, and thus babies, are iodine deficient, affecting risk (04:32–06:14).

3. Public Health Messaging, CDC, & "Fear Playbook"

• Claim: The CDC manipulates parental decisions through fear, not genuine education.

  "What families really should know is that they need to do their investigation about vaccines before they have a baby... making a life impacting decision about this newborn... is not the time to do it." (07:21)

• Misinformation at Doctor's Offices: Dr. Tenpenny argues that pediatricians are misinformed on vaccine safety and underestimate risks (09:16).

4. Evidence and Trials – Safety and Efficacy Debates

• Lack of Placebo Testing:

  "There has never been on any one of the vaccines that are currently given a truly placebo controlled trial... they’re always compared to another vaccine."
  — Dr. Tenpenny (10:42)

• Short Safety Windows: Vaccine trials allegedly monitor adverse reactions for only days or weeks, not long enough for chronic issues to appear (12:11).

• Antibodies ≠ Protection: High antibody levels post-vaccination do not guarantee immunity; outbreaks also occur among the vaccinated (12:58–14:45).

5. Emergency Medicine, Wound Care & Tetanus

• Dr. Tenpenny describes her ER experience and recommends cleaning wounds rather than relying solely on tetanus shots (14:45–16:50).

  "The moral of that story: if you've got a cut or you've got a puncture, you need to clean it out..."
  — Dr. Tenpenny (14:45)

6. Rabies, Tetanus, and Polio Vaccines

• Rabies: The only vaccine she personally would recommend due to its fatality rate (21:07).
• Tetanus: Not as fatal as commonly believed, many recover fully (21:10).
• Polio: Dr. Tenpenny claims eradication is due to hygiene, not vaccines, and raises concerns about vaccine contamination with SV40 (24:23–29:33).

7. Vitamin K and Circumcision

• Vitamin K: Synthetic vitamin K is unnecessary for most, can be replaced with drops, mainly administered ahead of circumcision (29:33–31:08).
• Circumcision: Criticized as barbaric and unnecessary; pain is significant and often minimized (32:25–33:52).

  "If anybody has ever seen a circumcision, it's barbaric."
  — Dr. Tenpenny (32:31)

8. Pediatric Health and Fever

• Fever: Important for immune function; fear of fever is overblown (38:13–40:15).

  "The importance of fever...it's not about how high [the fever is], it's about how long it's gone on and whether or not your child's drinking water."
  — Dr. Tenpenny (38:13)

• Non-vaccinated Children: Argued to be generally healthier; families who refuse vaccines need to be proactive about diet and hygiene (35:40).

9. Hepatitis B Transmission and Grocery Carts

• Myth Debunking: Babies cannot contract hepatitis B from shopping carts; risk comes from needles, toothbrushes, or sexual contact (42:18).

  “No, it comes from shared needles, from shared toothbrushes, from anal sex particularly. No, they're not going to [get Hep B from grocery carts]."
  — Dr. Tenpenny (42:18)

• Immune System Facts: Babies have innate and developing adaptive immunity; not born “immunodeficient” (43:30).

10. Vaccine Ingredients and Combinations

• Unknown Safety of Combinations: No thorough study on how vaccine ingredients interact when combined (51:29).
• Foreign Proteins and Adjuvants: Concerns raised about aluminum, fetal cells, animal DNA/proteins; no long-term data on effects or antibody formation to excipients (54:41).

11. Informed Consent & Parental Responsibility

• Doing Homework:

  "If you are making [the customized vaccine schedule] decision, you haven't done enough of your homework yet."
  — Dr. Tenpenny (56:08)

• Recommended Resources:

  • “Turtles All the Way Down” (Children’s Health Defense) (56:08)
  • “Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak” by Dr. Brian Hooker (61:03)
  • Vaccine package insert reading courses (58:47)

12. COVID-19 Vaccine Specific Claims

• Died Suddenly/Turbo Cancers: Dr. Tenpenny cites data showing death and disability spikes after COVID vaccination, "turbo cancers" in young people, and neurological complications (64:02–69:03).

• Gen Z Health: Aging and health issues among Gen Z attributed to vaccine history and modern environmental factors (69:09).

13. Vaccines in Pregnancy and Flu Shots

• Pregnant Women: No studies on safety of routinely recommended vaccines in pregnancy; original advice was to avoid all drugs/shots (70:19).

• Flu Shot: Only 14% of flu season illnesses are influenzas, so shots are framed as largely unnecessary (73:17).

  "The flu shot is a scam."
  — Alex Clark (73:15)

14. Detox and Recovery After Vaccines

• Zeolite Detox Spray: Dr. Tenpenny promotes “Pure Body Extra” as a daily zeolite spray for “detoxing” from vaccines, microplastics, and heavy metals (76:43–78:06).

15. Vaccine Injury Legal Structure and Repeal Efforts

• Legal Immunity:
  • 1986 National Child Vaccine Injury Act granted liability protection to manufacturers.
  • No mandated reports on increased safety since then (81:12–82:34).
  • PREP Act covers COVID countermeasures.
  • Legislative efforts are afoot to repeal both (84:48–86:08).
• Call to Action: Listeners are urged to contact representatives to support bills to end pharmaceutical immunity.

16. Final Philosophical/Spiritual Remedy

• Spiritual Alignment:

  "Once you get your life aligned with God and...what God encourages you to do and how to live your life, so many of these other things just fall in line."
  — Dr. Tenpenny (88:22)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On doing your own research before giving birth:

  “When you are in labor is not the time that you should be deciding whether or not your baby is going to get a hepatitis B shot, an RSV shot and a vitamin K shot...making a life impacting decision about this newborn in your life…do your study and your investigation about vaccines.”
  (07:30)

• Circumcision as ‘barbaric’:

  "It’s just barbaric what they do to these babies."
  (32:31)

• On fever in children:

  "It's not about how high [the fever is], it's about how long it's gone on and whether or not your child's drinking water."
  (38:13)

• On vaccine trial methodology:

  "All of the vaccine trials are a vaccine compared to another vaccine..."
  (10:42)

• On legal immunity and corporate responsibility:

  "There isn't another industry in America...that if they create a faulty product and it kills people, that they have no liability for it."
  (85:46)

Important Timestamps

• Opening/Dr. Tenpenny’s Position: 00:00–02:45
• Genetics & Iodine in Vaccine Risk: 02:46–07:21
• CDC & Fear Playbook, Parental Research: 07:21–09:16
• Placebo Trials & Safety Data: 10:42–12:58
• Tetanus & Wound Care: 14:45–16:50
• Rabies, Polio & Vaccine History: 21:07–29:33
• Vitamin K & Circumcision: 29:33–33:52
• Fever & Pediatric Health: 38:13–40:15
• Hep B and Immune System in Babies: 42:05–44:45
• Vaccine Combinations/Ingredients: 51:29–55:57
• Custom Vaccine Schedules: 56:08–58:47
• COVID Vaccine Risks: 64:02–69:09
• Vaccines in Pregnancy and Flu Shot Efficacy: 70:19–73:17
• Detox Protocols: 76:43–78:32
• Legal Protections & Repeal Initiatives: 81:12–86:08
• Final Remedy – Faith & Health: 88:22

Resources and Further Reading Mentioned

• Books:

  • Turtles All the Way Down: Vaccine Science and Myth (Children’s Health Defense)
  • Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak by Dr. Brian Hooker
  • The Virus and the Vaccine by Debbie Bookchin
  • Died Suddenly by Ed Dowd
  • Zero Accountability in a Failed... by Dr. Sherri Tenpenny

• Websites and Courses:

  • prime.drtenpenny.com (Tenpenny’s vaccine courses)
  • drsusanne.net (Vitamin C and pertussis protocol)
  • drtenpenny.substack.com (Medical & event newsletter)
  • god.substack.com (Faith-based newsletter)

Dr. Tenpenny’s Recommendations for Parents

• Research all vaccine ingredients and risks before birth.
• Consider family health history, especially for susceptibilities to vaccine reactions.
• Use resources and read critically, especially package inserts.
• If choosing to vaccinate at all, “even a little poison is still poison.”
• Consider detox strategies if there’s regret or concern post-vaccination.
• Stay involved in legislative advocacy to change current vaccine injury law.

Tone: The episode is conversational, direct, and often polemical, seeking to empower parental autonomy and skepticism of public health orthodoxy.

Note: The views expressed in this episode are highly controversial and not representative of mainstream scientific or medical consensus.