A Tennessee doctor has lost his medical license after a local news investigation revealed he was selling fake COVID-19 vaccine waivers to virtually anyone — including patients he’d never met, patients in distant states and a black Labrador retriever named Charlie.
In a consent form signed May 16, the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners found that Robert Coble had violated state statutes on the grounds of “unprofessional, dishonorable or unethical conduct” and “making false statements or representations, being guilty of fraud or deceit…in medicine.”
Coble voluntarily surrendered his medical license, effective that day, which is equivalent to a revocation. Coble also agreed not to apply for a new medical license for at least a year and to pay a $1,000 fine and the cost of the board’s investigation of his case, up to $2,000.
KFF Health News was the first to report the outcome, which was made public on June 15.
In November 2021, NewsChannel 5, a Nashville outlet, reported that Coble was selling COVID-19 vaccine exemptions through a Hendersonville-based company called MedChoice LLC. A website for the now-dissolved company previously offered “handwritten medical waivers personally reviewed and signed by a licensed physician.”
All an applicant had to do to get an exemption was pay Coble about $139 and check off a reason on a list as to why he needed the exemption. The list included reasons such as: “I have an irrational fear of needles”, “I am very afraid of getting the vaccine (e.g. poor sleep, feelings of being overwhelmed, increased heart rate, monopolizing anxiety),” “I have immunosuppression, and “I have an autoimmune disease.”
NewsChannel 5 reporter Jennifer Kraus bought one for a family member, Charlie Kraus, a black Labrador retriever. At the time of purchase, she indicated that Charlie had an irrational fear of needles. Days later, the pup got his waiver, with his journalist owner reporting:
The personalized waiver is on what appears to be a medical prescription form with a handwritten note that reads, “Charlie should not receive any COVID vaccine.” It’s even watermarked like real recipes to avoid duplication.
The company also sent a laminated exemption card, also supposedly signed by Dr. Coble, stating that Charlie was “medically cleared of the COVID vaccine,” with instructions such as, “For best results, give a card and say ‘I am medically unable to receive the COVID vaccine and my doctor has documentation of that fact.'”
But if those official-looking documents weren’t really convincing, Coble reportedly tried to intervene. According to the medical board’s investigation, when a client’s human resources department or the school’s student health department rejected Coble’s waiver, Coble contacted the client, interviewed them by phone, and then called the rejecting department and tried to convince them to back down. to turn. the rejection. It is unclear how many times this has been achieved.
The board did not specify how many waivers Coble may have sold, but reported that he sold them through MedChoice at least between August 2021 and September 2021. At the time, waivers were sold to people in Tennessee and other states where Coble was not licensed, including Maine and Washington.
