From Advocate to Decision Maker

Parker Griffith, M.D., elected as first radiation oncologist in Congress

Radiation oncologists now have a colleague on Capitol Hill. Last November, Parker Griffith, M.D., who represents Alabama’s 5th District, was elected as the first radiation oncologist in Congress after a campaign where he stressed the need to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to all Americans.

“If you don’t have an insurance card and you’re in America, then you don’t have the best healthcare in the world,” Dr. Griffith said at a recent Capitol Hill briefing.

He brings more than 20 years of medical-field experience and more than 15 years of experience as a small-business owner to his position in the U.S. House of Representatives, and with his firsthand knowledge of the importance of radiation treatment for cancer patients, Dr. Griffith will serve as an influential voice for the legislative issues affecting the specialty.

“The day Parker Griffith was elected was a great day for medical professionals and cancer patients,” Laura I. Thevenot, ASTRO CEO, said. “He understands why cancer funding needs to be increased and why all cancer treatments should be available and accessible to all patients who need them.”

Radiation oncology pioneer
Dr. Griffith was born and raised in Shreveport, La., and graduated from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans in 1970. After a stint at the LSU Service Charity Hospital in New Orleans and a year of neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas, Dr. Griffith began his training in radiation oncology through a combined program between UTMB and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

In 1975, Dr. Griffith earned his board-certification in radiation oncology and moved to Huntsville, Ala., where he became the first radiation oncologist in northern Alabama and established the area’s first cancer treatment center at Huntsville Hospital. Dr. Griffith spent four years in a hospital-based practice serving on the staffs of several area hospitals that offered radiation oncology services.

After his time in a hospital setting, Dr. Griffith established the Huntsville Cancer Treatment Center in 1979 as the first freestanding comprehensive cancer treatment center in Alabama. Through this treatment center, Dr. Griffith was able to begin his work helping all Americans in need gain access to vital healthcare services.

“All the radiation therapy in the world and all the chemotherapy in the world will not replace early diagnosis and access to healthcare,” Dr. Griffith said.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, through the treatment center, Dr. Griffith established a free breast cancer screening service that provided complimentary screenings to more than 1,200 women and coupons for reduced cost mammograms. At that time, mammograms were not covered under insurance and required a doctor’s referral.

The treatment center also provided free cholesterol screenings, nursing scholarships and colorectal cancer screening kits and results. In addition, Dr. Griffith provided cancer expertise via an on-air television question and answer program on early breast cancer detection and cancer treatment called the First Call Health Program, which was a partnership between WAAY Channel 31 in Huntsville and Huntsville Hospital.

In 1992, Dr. Griffith retired from medicine, but he continues to earn continuing medical education credits and holds a license to practice in Alabama and Texas.

Road to politics
Dr. Griffith’s political career began in November 2006 when he was elected to the Alabama Senate. During his time in the state legislature, he continued to work on important healthcare issues, including advocating for increased funding for early cancer screening programs and helping to pass a bill that networks Alabama’s trauma centers so that they can coordinate treatment and disaster responses.

Now that Dr. Griffith is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he continues to work to help Americans gain access to healthcare.

“Radiation therapy is so effective in early diagnosis, so effective when we have early access,” Dr. Griffith said. “What we need to do is be sure every American has access to healthcare.”

Fighting for his cause
On January 28, Dr. Griffith participated in an educational briefing titled “Winning the War on Cancer: The Critical Role of Radiation Oncology” that was organized by ASTRO in cooperation with the House Cancer Caucus. The briefing featured Dr. Griffith and Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.), a breast cancer survivor, and was designed to educate Capitol Hill staffers on what radiation oncology is and why it is important for cancer patients.

He spoke about the importance of supporting early diagnosis and access as well as the high numbers of smoking- related cancer deaths.

“If we took the death rates from cancer and we separated out smoking-related cancer, people dying from cancer would be decreasing,” Dr. Griffith said. “It’s still our number one killer.”

On March 19, he penned a letter to Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, expressing concerns about abuse of the in-office ancillary exception to the physician self-referral law related to radiation therapy and asking Spratt to recognize savings in the federal budget associated with removing the exception for radiation therapy.

“I am confident this step … will help prevent profit-motivated self-referrals and preserve the independent judgment and choice that patients deserve in making life and death
decisions,” Dr. Griffith said in the letter.

In late March, Dr. Griffith, along with 200 other congressmen, reintroduced the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, which would allow a breast cancer patient and her doctor to decide whether the patient should recuperate from a mastectomy or lumpectomy for up to 48 hours at the hospital or whether she is able to recover at home.

“Whether or not a breast cancer patient remains in the hospital following a mastectomy … should be determined by a doctor and patient. Unfortunately, many patients may be forced to leave the hospital when they are still in pain, groggy from anesthesia and with drainage tubes that require professional attention because their insurance will not cover their stay,” Dr. Griffith said.

“The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act will help to ensure that any decision in favor of a shorter or longer hospital stay will be made by the patient and her doctor and not an insurance company.”

The bill was in committee at press time.

But Dr. Griffith has said that even though he helps make the laws, he needs the help of advocates to get the message out to all representatives. During ASTRO’s Advocacy Day held in Washington, D.C., this March, Dr. Griffith spoke at the donor appreciation dinner for ASTRO’s political action committee, ASTRO PAC, and stressed the importance of getting involved in the legislative process.

“We need aggressive lobbying in medicine; we don’t have that,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much power you’ve got if you stand up and say it.”

Dr. Griffith, who in March was appointed co-chair of the Blue Dog healthcare task force — a group of fiscally conservative Democrats, said that he is ready, with the help of his fellow radiation oncologists, to use his time in office to make changes to America’s healthcare system.

“Let’s quit talking about healthcare reform,” he said. “Let’s get something done and get [it] passed.”

-Nicole Napoli, Publications Specialist