Here's How Doctors Can Fight Back.

— If medical associations won't take a stand, we must. —

By Irwin Redlener, MD in MedPage Today

Former President Barack Obama once said, "Elections have consequences." But historically, the consequences tend to be less dramatic than supporters of the winning candidate hoped for -- and less than opponents feared. That's because the American system of government, driven by the principles laid out in the U.S. Constitution, explicitly establishes checks and balances designed to shield us from the domination of extremists of any political stripe.

And for well over 200 years, those principles have held. But since the second inauguration of President Donald Trump, the country is facing an existential crisis of Constitutional fragility, which opens in a new tab or window across every aspect of government and governing in America.

For doctors and public and global health, the Trump administration's executive orders and plans are beyond worrisome, as is the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who opens in a new tab or window as HHS secretary. Proposed disruptions or elimination of vital healthcare access for vulnerable populations, massive cuts in critical medical research, and withdrawal from long-standing commitments to global health will affect all of us.

But, with major medical organizations standing by rather than leveraging their influence to intervene, many physicians and other healthcare professionals are left wondering, "What can I do?"

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