Man Admits He Posed as a Physician

A Santa Ana man who performed physical examinations, sutured wounds and administered other medical care for 1 1/2 years at two Orange County urgent-care centers pleaded guilty Friday to practicing medicine without a license.

Enrique Herrera, 36, also pleaded guilty before West Orange County Municipal Judge William L. Mock to one count of forging a prescription for narcotics and four counts of forging prescriptions for lesser drugs, all felonies.

Herrera, a former Navy medical corpsman who has said he “always wanted to be a doctor,” could be sentenced to a maximum of six years in prison. At a Superior Court hearing set for Aug. 4, Herrera is expected to be ordered to undergo a 90-day medical and psychological evaluation at the California Institution for Men in Chino, as recommended by a Probation Department report, before sentencing.

Did Minor Surgery

Herrera has admitted having posed as Dr. Alvin James Stewart when he worked at the Fountain Valley and Westminster offices of the Emergi-Care Family Center. State Board of Medical Quality Assurance investigators, who arrested Herrera April 28 at his home, said he performed routine medical procedures--including minor surgery, administering Pap smears and breast exams and setting simple bone breaks--from November, 1984, until mid-April.

State investigators received no complaints from patients about Herrera at the time but were tipped off by a Board of Medical Quality Assurance clerk, who raised concerns over a license renewal application in Stewart’s name. The license had lapsed, and the clerk had called the real Dr. Stewart--a retired physician then living in Oxnard--who denied that he had applied for renewal, investigators said.

At the time of Herrera’s arrest, Stewart, 65, claimed that he had no knowledge of the former corpsman’s activities, investigators said. Herrera later told the deputy probation officer handling the case that Stewart sold his credentials to him in early 1984 for $1,000 a month.

Tells of Arrangement

Stewart threatened last November to let his license expire if he did not get more money, according to Herrera’s statement. When Herrera refused, Stewart agreed--in February--to continue under the original arrangement and told Herrera to apply for a license renewal, according to the statement.

State Board of Medical Quality Assurance officials said recently that they are looking for Stewart, who apparently has left Oxnard. The state medical officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

Although investigators said that there were no patient complaints at the time of Herrera’s arrest, the probation report said at least one patient suffered because of his care. A woman whose broken toe was set by Herrera now faces possible amputation.