Fitzhugh Mullan, M.D. is Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at George Washington University and a contributing editor of the journal Health Affairs. He is the author of Plagues and Politics: The Story of the United States Public Health Service (1989), Vital Signs: A Young Physician's Struggle with Cancer (1983), and White Coat, Clenched Fist: The Political Education of an American Physician (1976).