That's a fairly long response not to answer a very simple question. > when someone says they’re a doctor in the middle of giving medical advice, they can’t pla

That's a fairly long response not to answer a very simple question. > when someone says they’re a doctor in the middle of giving medical advice, they can’t play the “but I have a PhD card” or “free speech” because the recipient of that message would reasonably assume due to common colloquial understanding that that person is a licensed medical doctor (unless the PhD somehow clarified this in a reasonable way). I don't see why in this scenario the burden would be on the PhD to offer clarification. Again, the meaning of the "D" in PhD hasn't changed in the west since the Middle Ages. Medical Doctor can simply state his affiliation to his licensing board; to me some organization claiming ownership of a term in common usage singe the Middle Ages screams first amendment violation.