Why, as a doctor, do I feel the need to be so political? That question was posed to me in a relatively civil conversation on Twitter by someone who disagrees with me about #Hydroxychloroquine. He thinks we should just see patients and lobby for them. Here's why I disagree: 1/

I kept my head down in medicine for about 18 years. I saw medicine change, specifically the ability of my patients to afford access to healthcare. Many can not even afford insurance, and many with insurance have deductibles that are more than their monthly take-home pay. 2/

Those folks wait a few days to come in with chest pain, they wait a few hours too long to come in with stroke symptoms. They come in with ruptured appendices. They come in Diabetic comas because they can't afford insulin. 3/

All of this waiting because of cost causes untold amounts of suffering. In the richest country in the world, people needlessly suffer because they can't afford to see a doctor or fill a prescription. 4/

Then the #ACA was passed, and Michigan expanded #Medicaid, and it got a little better. Not enough, but better. And even though the US house tried to repeal it 50+ times, President Obama was in office, so we were OK. #Medicare and #Medicaid were OK. 5/

With @realDonaldTrump's election with a @GOP Senate and House, it was a reality that we might go backwards and make healthcare less affordable. It caused me to get involved in politics like I had never before. 6/

Now that I am the Exec Dir of the @cmteetoprotect, we are finding so many more doctors who want to be involved in the process of electing individuals who will look out for our patients. We feel helpless in the exam rooms, so we are stepping out and speaking up. 7/

With #COVID19, many of us see a President who has abandoned the principles of #publichealth, and caused the deaths of over 100,000 Americans due to inaction and reckless reopenings. It feels impossible to truly adhere to the phrase "Primum non nocere" without getting involved. 8/

So I (we) am speaking up. I am doing everything possible to elect people who care about my patients. Who care about their ability to afford healthcare. Who will listen to public health experts about how to manage a #pandemic. 9/

To truly care for patients at the bedside, I fele that it is a moral imperative to try to influence policy and those who make it beyond the limited scope of the exam room or the hospital in which one practices. If you are a doc, and you agree, come join me http://www.committeetoprotect.org