The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Political Action Committee keeps track of ASA members elected to local, state, and national offices. Using their list and looking at other related medical professionals elected this term, Topics in Pain Management offers a look at members of the pain medicine community who are in a position to have an impact on health policy and legislation.
For the 2022 midterm election, the ASA listed anesthesiologists and certified anesthesiologist assistants who won election or re-election.1
They are noted here with party affiliation provided with an R for Republican or D for Democrat, even though the ASA site did not provide party affiliation, and some additional information Topics in Pain Management was able to find:
* US House of Representatives: Andy Harris, MD (R-Maryland), the incumbent and also the sole Republican in Maryland's Congressional delegation.
* Alabama Senate: Timothy Melson, MD, (R) an incumbent who ran unopposed.
* Georgia House of Representatives: Michelle Au, MD (D), who is the first Asian-American elected to the Georgia legislature.
* Georgia Senate: Chuck Hufstetler, C-AA, (R) an incumbent who ran unopposed.
* Illinois House of Representatives: Bill Hauter, MD, (R) who ran unopposed.
* Kentucky Senate: Donald Douglas, MD, (R) the incumbent.
* Tennessee House of Representatives: Bryan Terry, MD, (R) the incumbent.
* Texas House of Representatives: Tom Oliverson, MD, (R) the incumbent.
* St. Louis County Executive: Sam Page, MD, (D) the incumbent.
* Salt Lake County Council in Utah: Suzanne Harrison, MD (D).
Anesthesiologist Val Arkoosh, MD, chair of the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Board of Commissioners, initially ran for US Senate as a Democrat before the primary in for the seat that eventually came down to a nationally high-profile contest between Lt Gov John Fetterman, the Democrat who won, and Mehmet Oz, MD, a celebrity doctor and retired cardiothoracic surgeon who ran as a Republican. Fetterman is not a medical professional. He worked in the insurance industry before holding office as a mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania.
Arkoosh, former chair of anesthesiology at Drexel University College of Medicine, chairs the board of commissioners for the third most populous county in Pennsylvania. After initial polling put her behind Fetterman and others, she announced on February 4, 2022, that she was withdrawing from the race.
"We cannot let anything stand in the way of a Democrat being elected to the U.S. Senate," she posted on her website on February 4, 2022. "[I]t's become clear to me that the best way I can ensure that happens is to suspend my campaign today and commit to doing whatever I can to help ensure we flip this Senate seat in November."3
Topics in Pain Management was not able to find a list of certified registered nurse anesthetists, or other nurses who specialize in pain management who were elected to office, although the American Nurses Association does list 3 nurses who are serving in Congress, including the first nurse to be elected to the US Congress, Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas); the youngest Black woman to serve in the House, Lauren Underwood (D-Illinois); and the first Black woman to represent Missouri in Congress, Cori Bush (D-Missouri).4
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