{{short description|American physician and activist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = David Scheiner | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = David Lawrence Scheiner | birth_date = 1938 | birth_place = | citizenship = US | ethnicity = | fields = Internal medicine | workplaces = Physicians for a National Health Program<br>HydePark Associates<br>University of Chicago Hospitals<br>Rush University Medical Center | alma_mater = Princeton University<br>Columbia University | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | known_for = Advocacy for single-payer health care | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | religion = | signature = | footnotes = }} '''David Scheiner''' (born 1938) is an American physician and activist, noted for his efforts in advocating for single-payer health care in the United States. He was United States President Barack Obama's personal physician from 1987 till 2008 while he was based in Chicago, and is a leading member of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP).<ref name="latimes1">{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-doctor29-2009jul29,0,2521586.story |title=Obama's longtime doctor says healthcare reform plan falls short |first=Mike |last=Dorning |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=2009-07-29 |accessdate=2009-08-16}}</ref>
==Education and practice== Scheiner graduated from Princeton University and gained his M.D. degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, subsequent to which he practiced internal medicine in Chicago for over 40 years with Hyde Park Associates, where his partner was Quentin Young, who had been personal physician to Martin Luther King Jr. and has also similarly been instrumental in advocating single-payer health care, despite lack of qualifications in healthcare economics.<ref name="forbes">{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/06/18/obama-doctor-knocks-obamacare-business-healthcare-obamas-doctor.html |title=Obama's Doctor Knocks ObamaCare |first=David |last=Whelan |work=Forbes |date=2009-06-18 |accessdate=2009-08-16}}</ref> He practiced in Hyde Park and worked for University of Chicago Hospitals and Rush University Medical Center.<ref name="forbes"/><ref name="time">{{cite magazine |first=Mark |last=Halperin |url=http://thepage.time.com/letter-from-obamas-doctor/ |title=The Page: Letter From Obama's Doctor |magazine=Time |accessdate=2009-08-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625004321/http://thepage.time.com/letter-from-obamas-doctor/ |archivedate=June 25, 2009 }}</ref> He retired in 2014.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-2017/Cancer-David-Scheiner/ |title=My Last Patient |first=David |last=Seheiner |date=December 15, 2016 |magazine=Chicago}}</ref>
==Advocacy for health care== Scheiner has been a leading advocate of the single-payer health care system since its beginnings, along with his partner and good friend Quentin Young.<ref name="forbes"/> In August 2009, Scheiner appeared on numerous television and media outlets, including CNN's ''Larry King Live'', hosted by Wolf Blitzer, and HBO's ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', hosted by Bill Maher, appearing as a proponent of a single-payer government health system, in view of the recent debate surrounding U.S. health care reforms proposed by President Obama, whose health care plans he termed as being too "timid".<ref name="latimes1"/><ref name="huffington1">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/29/obamas-doctor-presidents_n_246870.html |title=Obama's Doctor: President's Vision For Health Care Bound To Fail |work=Huffington Post |date=2009-07-29 |accessdate=2009-08-16 |first=Sam |last=Stein}}</ref><ref name="rp">{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/30/obama.doctor/index.html |title=Obama's former doctor critical of White House health care plan |work=CNN |date=2009-07-30 |accessdate=2009-08-19}}</ref> During his appearance on ''Larry King Live'' on August 11, 2009, when he headlined that day's episode, he discussed the issue with Blitzer and other commentators, including former Republican Party presidential candidate Ron Paul and Dean Ornish, stating how health insurance companies had interfered in the treatment of several of his patients and advocating usage of the single-payer system.<ref name="transcript">{{cite news |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0908/11/lkl.01.html |title=President Obama's Former Physician Wants More Sweeping Health Care Reform; Remembering Eunice Kennedy Shriver; John Hughes Remembered |website=CNN |series=Larry King Live |date=2009-08-11 |accessdate=2009-08-16}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.pnhp.org/ Physicians for a National Health Program official website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheiner, David}} Category:Living people Category:Physicians from Chicago Category:1938 births Category:20th-century American Jews Category:American health activists Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Category:21st-century American Jews