It is a common perception among the public and experts, particularly in health and medical areas, that having a Ph.D. makes one a scientist. This is a very wrong view or assumption.
A Ph.D. degree is a higher level of education and training after an undergraduate level. With a Ph.D. degree, the person may be considered an expert in the subject. For example, a Ph.D. in history or literature would not make a person a scientist but an expert in the subject.
Similarly, a Ph.D. in medicine does not make a physician a scientist but an expert in practicing medicine, which is generally training and education in writing prescriptions based on observing symptoms and reading diagnostic test results.
Being a scientist means having extensive and exhaustive education and training in science. It is ascribed to studying the fundamental units of matter or bodies such as atoms, molecules, sub-atomic particles, etc., that is, the study of physics and/or chemistry with mathematics (link) using validated tests.
Anyone who does not study and practice chemistry and/or physics (with mathematics) cannot claim to be a scientist or science expert. Such a claim should be considered quackery or fraudulent and treated according to the laws.
Medical science, pharmaceutical science, health science, biology, virology, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, pharmacology, pharmacy, etc, are a few examples of fake and false science.