Ad Watch: In Ohio’s governor race, GOP ad misleads on Dr. Amy Acton’s medical record and substance use

A pro-Vivek Ramaswamy advertisement in Ohio’s gubernatorial race takes aim at his Democratic opponent Dr. Amy Acton’s medical credentials and accuses her of lying about substance use. 

The ad, paid for by the super political action committee V-PAC: Victors, not Victims, claims Acton’s medical knowledge was described as “insufficient” to the Ohio medical board and that police later found she had combined alcohol with prescription drugs after telling the state medical board she was “clean.” It also says she “admitted to emotional or mental illness, drug addiction, or an alcohol problem.”

Although the ad is no longer airing on television, it remains available online. But its claims misleadingly draw on documents that go back more than three decades: They reference Acton’s first-year internship after getting her medical degree in 1990, her 1994 medical licensing application and a standard 2019 license renewal form. The ad also provides partial information about a police call to her house in 2019, leaving out critical details.

Ohio voters in November will choose a successor to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who is barred by term limits from seeking another consecutive term. Acton, a physician and former director of the Ohio Department of Health who became a household name in Ohio during the COVID-19 pandemic, served in DeWine’s administration after he appointed her to lead the agency in 2019. Ramaswamy, a Republican, is a biotech entrepreneur and a former presidential candidate.

Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to campaign independently for candidates for federal office. We dissected this super PAC ad’s claims.

Claim: “Acton’s medical training was described as ‘insufficient’ to Ohio’s Medical Board.”

This needs context.

Acton earned her medical degree in 1990 from Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine. She completed pediatric internship and residency training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, followed by residency training in preventive medicine at Ohio State University, where she also earned a master’s degree in public health. She has been a licensed physician since June 16, 1994. Her later career focused on preventive medicine and public health, including teaching at Ohio State’s College of Public Health. She served as the director of the Ohio Department of Health from 2019-20, steering the state’s COVID-19 guidance. 

The document cited in the ad dates to before Acton was a licensed physician. When Acton first applied for a medical license in 1994, one physician who supervised Acton over four months in 1990 called her knowledge during that internship “insufficient” on an evaluation submitted to the Ohio State Medical Board as part of her application.

Both the Acton campaign and V-PAC provided PolitiFact with screenshots of Acton’s medical board renewal forms. The State Medical Board of Ohio did not respond to PolitiFact’s efforts to independently verify the records.

After Acton completed her residency in 1993, a second evaluation listed on the same 1994 application described her medical knowledge as “excellent.”

Claim: Acton “admitted to emotional or mental illness, drug addiction, or an alcohol problem.”

This claim is misleading.

The form for Acton’s 1994 medical license application asked whether she had ever been treated, but not hospitalized, for “emotional or mental illness, drug addiction or abuse, or an alcohol problem.” Acton answered yes.

The Acton campaign says her response referred to outpatient therapy she sought after experiencing childhood sexual abuse. 

Because the questihowon grouped several conditions together, her “yes” answer does not establish that she was admitting specifically to drug addiction or an alcohol problem. The ad does nothing to clarify.

It leaves out that a separate question asked whether the applicant had been addicted to or dependent on alcohol or a chemical substance, or had been treated for or diagnosed with drug or alcohol dependency or abuse. Acton answered no.

Claim: “Later, Acton told the medical board she was clean.”

This claim misconstrues the document’s language and leaves a misleading impression.

In May 2019, Acton was renewing her medical license when she answered “no” on the paperwork’s question of whether she had an addiction or dependencies on drugs or alcohol, according to documents provided by the campaigns.

The renewal did not use the word “clean.”

Claim: “Days later, police came to her house, finding that she combined alcohol with prescription drugs.”

That lacks context.

In August 2019 — months, not days, after Acton renewed her medical license — Bexley police responded to a reported domestic dispute at her home. 

According to the police report, Acton and her husband had a verbal argument over her extended work hours as director of the Ohio Department of Health. The report says Acton became upset, pulled a mirror from the wall, shattering the glass. Acton told the responding officers she had been drinking and had taken an unknown amount of prescription medication.

Acton’s campaign has said she had one drink at dinner and the medication was a prescription she had taken regularly for years. 

The report says Acton told police she wanted to leave and had gone to the garage, but her husband talked her out of it. A Columbus Fire medic recommended that Acton go to the hospital, but she refused. The responding officer reported “no evidence of any physical violence” and described the incident as a verbal dispute. Police made no arrests or charges.

Acton’s husband, Eric Acton, publicly took responsibility for the incident and said he was the one who had too much to drink, according to an article from NBC4 (WCMH-TV) news.