The American Society of Anesthesiologists has entered the chat.
As the drama surrounding Sutton Stracke’s narrow esophagus continues to unfold on the currently airing season of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” the ASA took to Instagram Friday to call out newbie and nurse anesthetist Annemarie Wiley for seemingly misrepresenting her medical qualifications.
“The Real Housewives know a fake. Anesthesiologists are medical doctors,” the organization captioned a graphic differentiating between anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists, adding that “title misappropriation has no place in health care.”
According to the ASA, anesthesiologists must complete medical school, 12 to 14 years of higher education, 12,000 to 16,000 hours of specialized clinical training and a fellowship program.
Nurse anesthetists, by contrast, do not attend medical school, have five to seven years of higher education, complete 2,000 hours of less specialized clinical training and do not participate in subspecialty fellowships.
Wiley’s introduction to the Bravo reality series has rubbed many viewers the wrong way, as she’s spent quite a bit of camera time focused on Stracke, 52, who revealed earlier this season that she has an esophageal stricture.
Wiley — who is not Stracke’s medical provider — has repeatedly questioned her claim that the condition makes it more difficult to eat, going on to double down in an interview with Pvnew earlier this month.
While defending her unsolicited commentary on the situation, Wiley, 40, has insinuated to her co-stars that she went to medical school.
In fact, Crystal Kung Minkoff claimed on this week’s episode of the show that Wiley introduced herself as a doctor when they first met.
Wiley also suggested to Minkoff, 40, that Stracke might just be masking an eating disorder.
“Real Housewives of Miami” star Dr. Nicole Martin and “Real Housewives of Dallas” alum Dr. Tiffany Moon — both of whom are anesthesiologists — have confirmed that the condition is, in fact, real. They’ve also put Wiley on blast for her remarks.
Moon, 39, said it was “very disturbing” to watch Wiley “weaponizing her medical profession,” which Martin agreed was “very uncomfortable and cringey.”
The latter added, “It does not matter where you fall on the spectrum — all the way from being a tech to being a doctor — you joined the profession to be an advocate for patients, and as such, it is not our place to belittle, question or demean a patient’s symptoms or diagnosis.”
In response, Wiley accused Martin, 38, of “clout-chasing.”
