AMA Journal of Ethics editor Audiey Kao, MD, PhD, interviewed Richard Pan, MD, MPH, about how, as a physician and legislator, he seeks to protect public health in light of recurrent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases.
Physicians have the same political rights as every U.S. citizen, but they must balance these freedoms with their ethical responsibilities to patients, not exploit respect for the profession to advocate for causes unrelated to medicine.