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Arroyo Grande nurse fined for making false claims she is a doctor

November 14, 2022

Sarah Erny

By KAREN VELIE

An Arroyo Grande nurse practitioner has agreed to stop claiming she is a medical doctor and to pay a fine.

After earning a doctorate degree in nursing, Sarah Erny began identifying herself as “Dr. Sarah Erny,” in violation of the law. California’s Business and Professions Code prohibits all but a select few health care professionals from calling themselves “doctor” or “physician.”

District Attorney Dan Dow announced today that his office has reached a settlement with Erny, who agreed to an injunction and to pay $19,750 in civil penalties.

“We want all health care professionals to clearly display their education and licensure so that patients know who is providing their care,” Dow said. “All forms of professional medical services advertising, including websites and social media accounts, must be free of deceptive or misleading information and must clearly identify the professional license held by the advertiser”

Erny started a GoFundMe page, and has already raised $15,411 to help pay her fine. She argues that many people refer to themselves as doctor after receiving a doctorate degree.

“I’m here to ask for help to pay this settlement fee and my attorney fees so that I can clear my license and make decisions of where we go from here,” Erny said. “My life is all about my patients and leaving the ones that I had to leave when we closed our clinic was very difficult. Losing my license would mean that I couldn’t help anyone.”


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Wow it appears she chose a very untalented attorney to represent her .I have known school superintendents that were always known by the title of Doctor and teachers also , all of whom only had a Doctorate degree in education …I wonder what her attorneys angle was to guide her into accepting a raw deal from the DA .Does not seem to pass the smell test .Maybe her competition wants her office location or clientele or etc etc ? I’ve seen entrepreneurs do many backdoor evil doings to remove competition or to obtain a business location etc etc , over the years


-8

Seems like everyone these days thinks tv shows are actually accurate depictions of reality. Simple google search would have “saved her license” and her practice. Pitiful.


21

Now do Chiropractors.


35

And dentists?


-9

“She argues that many people refer to themselves as doctor after receiving a doctorate degree”.. but not as a medical doctor particularly when working in the medical field.


33