Richard Juien-Dah Pan (born October 28, 1965) is an American Democratic politician and physician who served in the California State Senate from 2014 to 2022, representing the 6th Senate district, which encompassed parts of Sacramento and Yolo counties. He is also a practicing pediatrician.
Richard Pan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the California State Senate from the 6th district | |
| In office December 1, 2014 – December 5, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Darrell Steinberg |
| Succeeded by | Angelique Ashby (redistricted) |
| Member of the California State Assembly from the 9th district | |
| In office December 3, 2012 – November 30, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Roger Dickinson (redistricted) |
| Succeeded by | Jim Cooper |
| Member of the California State Assembly from the 5th district | |
| In office December 6, 2010 – November 30, 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Roger Niello |
| Succeeded by | Frank Bigelow (redistricted) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Juien-Dah Pan October 28, 1965 Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Johns Hopkins University (BS) University of Pittsburgh (MD) Harvard University (MPH) |
| Website | Campaign website |
| Chinese name | |
| Traditional Chinese | 潘君達 |
| Simplified Chinese | 潘君达 |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Pān Jūndá |
Early life and education
editPan was born in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to immigrant parents from Taiwan.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University, a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master of Public Health from Harvard University.[2] He completed his pediatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital also serving as Chief Resident and a fellowship at Children's Hospital Boston in child advocacy and primary care research.[3]
Dr. Pan was a professor at the University of California, Davis where he led the pediatric residency program and founded Communities and Physicians Together, a service learning curriculum that placed physicians-in-training with community settings to learn about social determinants of health.[4][5]
Legislative career
editPrior to being elected to the State Senate in 2014, he was a member of the California State Assembly representing the 5th Assembly District, and after the 2010 redistricting, the 9th Assembly District. Pan was Chair of the California Asian American & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus.[when?]
Following a measles outbreak that began in California[6][7] and infected 131 people, Pan and Senator Ben Allen introduced California Senate Bill 277 in 2015, which eliminated philosophical and religious beliefs exemptions to vaccine requirements for California school children. The bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. Pan authored laws to expand newborn screening for severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome (AB395 in 2011), adrenoleukodystrophy (AB1559 in 2014) and all conditions recommended by the federal DHHS Recommended Universal Screening Panel (SB1095 in 2016). Pan authored legislation to extend the California Children's Services Program managed care carve-out (AB301 in 2011) and to establish the Medi-Cal Children's Health Advisory Board to guide Medi-Cal policy affecting children (AB357 in 2014). In 2021 he authored a law (SB 742) that makes illegal to "harass, intimidate, injure or obstruct" people who are on their way to get a vaccination; the law was inspired by an incident in January when protesters targeted and briefly shut down a mass vaccination site in Los Angeles.[8]
In 2022, together with Senator Scott Wiener, Pan introduced Senate Bill 866[9] which would have allowed minors aged 15 and older to receive FDA-approved vaccinations without parental consent.[10] The bill did not become law.[11]
Personal life
editPan and his wife, Wen Li-Wang, have two children.[12]
References
edit- ^ "California's new vaccine law: Freshman senator wins plaudits from colleagues". July 4, 2015.
- ^ "Dr. Richard Pan says he's running for Sacramento mayor". 12 June 2023.
- ^ Bureau, US Census. "Richard Pan". Census.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Humanitarian Award For UC Davis Pediatrician - UC Davis Medical Center - UC Davis Health System". health.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
- ^ Anderson, Cathie (December 19, 2022). "He's leaving California politics as a 'vaccine hero'. One choice set him on that path". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
- ^ Clemmons, N. S.; Gastanaduy, P. A.; Fiebelkorn, A. P.; Redd, S. B.; Wallace, G. S. (2015). "Measles - United States, January 4-April 2, 2015". MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 64 (14). Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC): 373–376. PMC 5779542. PMID 25879894.
- ^ "California Measles Surveillance Update" (PDF). California Department of Public Health. April 17, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ Bluth, Rachel (October 8, 2021). "New Law Bans Harassment at Vaccination Sites, but Free Speech Concerns Persist". California Healthline. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ "Bill Text - SB-866 Minors: Vaccine consent". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ L.A. Times Editorial Board (19 August 2022). "Editorial: Vaccines are safe. So why shouldn't teens be able to get them on their own?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ Aguilera, Elizabeth (September 2022). "Vaccines for teens without parental consent? Not this year, as bill is pulled". Calmatters. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "California's new vaccine law: Freshman senator wins plaudits from colleagues". 4 July 2015.