Cinderella Nonoo-Cohen
Introduction
Dr Cinderella Nonoo-Cohen is a doctor registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) who was suspended from the medical register for four months by a Medical Practitioners Tribunal in February 2026, after it found that a WhatsApp message she sent to fellow GPs was objectively Islamophobic and that a public post on X about university admissions demonstrated racial hostility. The hearing ran from 20 October 2025 to 20 February 2026, and the tribunal directed a review before the suspension ends. She has lodged an appeal and remains free to practise unrestricted while it is considered .
Background Information
Nonoo-Cohen had a long unblemished career before the posts: thirty-one years with no previous regulatory findings and no concerns raised about her clinical practice or patient safety. The messages that ended up before the tribunal date from October and November 2023, a period of intense public feeling around Israel and Palestine. The tribunal later accepted as personal context her Mizrahi Jewish family history and the personal impact on her of the events of 7 October 2023 .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Adjudicated (regulatory), not a criminal case. The findings below were made by a Medical Practitioners Tribunal applying the civil standard of proof in a fitness-to-practise process. They are not a criminal conviction, and nothing in the fetched record establishes any prosecution.
On 18 October 2023, Nonoo-Cohen sent messages within a WhatsApp group of fellow GPs. The tribunal found proved that her message stating “typical of you Muslims to gaslight” was objectively Islamophobic and seriously offensive, and that messages attempting to portray a colleague, Dr A, as antisemitic were seriously offensive. Allegations that her messages were motivated by hostility to Palestinians or their supporters were found not proved .
Separately, on 3 November 2023 she posted on her public X account: “Because they are minorities and they have precedence over the whites these days”. The tribunal found the comment — made about university admissions — demonstrated racial hostility and was seriously offensive, but found not proved that it was motivated by racial or religious hostility. Further allegations that she had liked seven Islamophobic posts on X were deleted from the case after a successful Rule 17(2)(g) application, so no findings were made on them .
The tribunal concluded the conduct amounted to serious misconduct and that her fitness to practise was impaired, citing the public-interest limbs of the overarching objective. It found her insight incomplete — she had not fully accepted that her words were seriously offensive or that the X comment demonstrated racial hostility — but assessed the risk of repetition as low .
Public Reaction and Consequences
The concrete consequence is the four-month suspension, imposed with a review hearing directed and no immediate order. The case is recorded in MedicWatch’s listing of doctors suspended in 2026 .
The tribunal weighed extensive mitigation: her apology and expressions of regret to Dr A and to the tribunal, full cooperation with the GMC investigation, equality and diversity training, ongoing therapy, and numerous positive testimonials including from members of the Muslim community. Against that it set misconduct that was discriminatory in nature, engaged two different protected characteristics across two incidents, and came from an experienced practitioner expected to understand professional standards .
Current Status
Nonoo-Cohen is a suspended doctor under a four-month order imposed on 20 February 2026, with a review directed before it ends. However, the published record states she has lodged an appeal and remains free to practise unrestricted while it is considered, so the suspension is not currently restricting her practice .
Impact on Their Career/Life
A tribunal finding that a doctor’s own words to colleagues and on a public account were Islamophobic and racially hostile follows her through appraisal, revalidation and any future job application regardless of the appeal’s outcome. The tribunal’s split findings — serious offensive conduct proved, motivation allegations not proved — marked the case as one about what an experienced doctor posted, not about her clinical care, but the incomplete-insight finding is what kept the case alive and what the review will reassess .