The supervising physician for a California nurse practitioner with a doctorate who called herself "Dr. Sarah" was fined for improper supervision.
Anika Moore, MD, an OB-GYN, entered a collaboration agreement with Sarah Erny, DNP, in 2018. Dr. Moore lived in Massachusetts and although she was not compensated for the oversight role, made herself available to Dr. Erny for two years until the agreement terminated in 2021. Dr. Moore said she believed Dr. Erny was working in a clinical setting with other physicians.
Court records allege that Dr. Moore provided improper supervision by only skimming documents and never reviewing any physical medical records of Dr. Erny's patients. Without Dr. Moore's knowledge, Dr. Erny opened an independent medical practice where she provided medical services and drug supplements, including prescribing controlled substances like testosterone, according to a Jan. 31 District Attorney's news release. Dr. Moore failed to collaborate on the standardized procedures or evaluate Dr. Erny's performance, which resulted in improper supervision.
In January 2024, Dr. Moore settled the complaint of her improper supervision and agreed to pay civil penalties of $25,000.
The settlement comes in the midst of other legal battles surrounding the use of the "doctor" title among nurse practitioners with a doctorate.
In November 2022, Dr. Erny was found to be violating the law by allegedly describing herself as a doctor on professional websites and social media and was fined $20,000 by the state and another $2,500 by the state medical association.
In June 2023, three nurse practitioners with doctorates of nursing sued the California attorney general, leaders of the medical board of California and leaders of the state board of registered nurses, arguing they have a right to call themselves doctors. The lawsuit is ongoing.
More states are loosening supervision restrictions for advanced practitioners, but medical boards may sanction supervising physicians for improper supervision and the majority of patients who sue for malpractice also sue the supervising physician, MedScape reported.