NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A New Jersey pharmacist falsely claimed he was a doctor and tried to sell “unproven” COVID-19 treatments to an undercover investigator posing as a customer, officials said Thursday.
Eric Sauer, who owns the Natural Pharmacy in Ocean Township, claimed he was a naturopathic physician and identified himself as “Dr. Sauer” on his pharmacy’s website and voicemail, despite the fact that he is not a licensed doctor, New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General said in a press release.
Sauer agreed to stop calling himself a doctor after the Board of Medical Examiners issued a cease-and-desist order, the attorney general’s office said. He will also have to pay $29,880 to cover the costs of the state’s three-year investigation into his practices.
“Only individuals with a medical license and the required training may practice medicine in New Jersey,” Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement. “Those who engage in the practice of medicine without the required credentials put the public health at risk and should expect a forceful response from the state.”
In June 2019, an undercover investigator from the state pretended to be a patient, paying Sauer $175 for a consultation, the attorney general's office said. During the consultation, Sauer "referred to himself as ‘Dr. Eric,’ provided a saliva test for $200, and advised the investigator to substitute her doctor-prescribed medications for his recommended enzyme supplements for an additional $261.55,” the release said.
At a Board of Medical Examiners committee meeting in February 2020, Sauer admitted he had been “reviewing bloodwork, recommending over the counter saliva tests and counseling patients to take vitamin and enzyme supplements," according to the release. He also agreed to remove the terms “Doctor,” “NMD” and “Naturopathic Physician” from his website.
In April 2020, however, the state’s undercover investigator scheduled another consultation with him, during which he recommended she spend around $320 on supplements “for both healthy individuals and those symptomatic for COVID-19,” the release said.
When the investigator told Sauer a relative was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, meanwhile, he did not tell her to advise her relative to contact a licensed doctor for care, the release added.
1010 WINS has reached out to the Natural Pharmacy for comment.