In Memoriam: Philip R. Lee, MD and Albert R. Jonsen, PhD

Dr. Phil Lee, an American health care icon, died October 26 at the age of 96. He was a longtime proud SFMMS member, who played key roles in many crucial medical and public issues, and served as Chancellor of UCSF and twice as national secretary of health.

Born in San Francisco into a family of physicians, Phil did his undergraduate and medical studies at Stanford, where his father had founded the Palo Alto Medical Clinic. He practiced in the Naval Reserve during both World War II and the Korean War, and then at the Mayo Clinic and elsewhere. By the mid-1960s he had been tapped by President Lyndon Johnson as Assistant Secretary of Health, tasked with rolling out the new Medicare and Medicaid programs, including the desegregation of hospitals receiving such funds. At a forum at the old SFMS auditorium on Masonic Avenue at the time, he debated the president of the AMA, who called him a “communist.” In 1969 Lee was appointed UCSF Chancellor. Told by Black staff there that they referred to the campus as ‘the plantation’ due to lack of promotions, he set about changing things there too, but came to work one morning to find a bullet hole in his office window. “I just moved my desk away from that window and got back to work,” he recalled. When then-California Governor Ronald Reagan made it clear he would hold up UCSF funding due to disagreements with Phil’s policies, Phil arranged to step down to be replaced by a new chancellor “who was a Republican but fully agreed with everything we’d already been doing.” Phil returned to teaching at both Stanford and UCSF, where the health policy institute became named for him. When AIDS

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Dr. Albert Jonson passed away on October 21st, 2020 at his home in San Francisco. Dr. Jonson was one of the founders of the field of bioethics. In 2003, he co-founded Sutter Health’s Program in Medicine and Human Values with Dr. William S. Andereck at CPMC. At the time of his death, he had finished finalizing the edits to the 9th edition of his seminal book, ‘Clinical Ethics: A Practical Approach to Ethical Decisions in Clinical Medicine’. Dr. Jonsen’s work was noted for bringing together theory and practice.

Dr. Jonsen received his doctorate in religious studies from Yale University having previously studied at Santa Clara University (MTh) and Gonzaga University (MA, BA). Prior to his time at Sutter Health, he served as President of the University of San Francisco (1969 - 1972), Professor of Ethics in Medicine and Chief, Division of Medical Ethics at the University of California, San Francisco (1972 - 1987), and Chairman of the Department of Medical History and Ethics at the School of Medicine, University of Washington (1987 - 1999). He served on multiple hit San Francisco in the 1980s, Phil was the first chair of the new San Francisco Health Commission. He was called back to Washington to again serve as Assistant Secretary of Health for President Clinton. He later endorsed President Obama’s ACA, saying “By making Medicare an option for all Americans, the kind of care I receive could be available to everyone.” One of Phil’s landmark books was titled “Pills, Profits, and Politics” and in 2001 he co-chaired an SFMS conference on antibiotic resistance in the early 1990s, which resulted in stronger AMA and national policy on the issue. He also co-chaired another meeting at the SFMS which launched the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, which continues today. He was an early supporter of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic, lending invaluable support to keep it going through lean times.

About the UCSF policy institute bearing his name, Phil reflected that “The most important contribution of our institute are the many people who have been trained there, considering what they’ve gone on to do. We’ve made many important contributions in research, family planning, medical education, pharmacology practice and policy, the health professions, and more. In some areas we haven’t been quite as influential as we might have liked, but we’ve kept trying all along.”

Renowned physician and author Atul Gawande once remarked regarding Phil that “I learned to just keep my mouth shut and listen and learn when he was around.” The late San Francisco Chronicle science editor and journalist David Perlman said “Phil Lee is one of the greatest people I ever encountered — even more so than all the Nobelists I got to interview or schmooze with!” Countless other students, colleagues and others certainly agree.

Phil is survived by his wife Dr. Roz Lasker, and the rest of his family, to whom SFMMS sends sincere condolences.

By Steve Heilig, MPH major national commissions that led to the development of guidelines around clinical and research ethics. Other leadership positions included his role as Commissioner on the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1974 - 1978) that led to the writing of the Belmont Report, the statement of ethical principles guiding research ethics. He also served on The President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine (1979 - 1982), which produced the influential definition of death that became the foundation of a model legislation in the United States.

Dr. Jonsen’s teachings and writings created multiple generations of bioethics leaders and his work continues to influence students, academics, and health care professionals throughout the world. He will live on through his work.