Doctor Roger Marshall likes to present himself to Kansas voters as a selfless, caring OB-GYN who helped deliver babies for rural Kansas mothers in need. He would rather voters didn’t see the cutthroat reality behind the curtain: for years, Marshall unleashed an endless, “extreme” torrent of hundreds of lawsuits on his patients for unpaid medical debts as small as $101. These patients, often financially vulnerable, saw wage and bank account garnishments and were frequently charged 18 percent interest on their debts, all to pad Marshall’s pocketbook. Dozens of patients were arrested in service of his lawsuits, which he collected on long after he left his practice and entered Congress. In contrast with the persona his campaign promotes, Roger Marshall has a callous and cruel record toward hundreds of his patients in rural Kansas.
Marshall Filed Lawsuits Against Over 700 Patients Concerning Their Unpaid Medical Bills. According to The New York Times, “Mr. Marshall, a Republican who is seeking re-election this fall, filed lawsuits against more than 700 patients with outstanding bills during his decades-long career as an obstetrician-gynecologist, according to a New York Times analysis of Kansas court records.” [New York Times, 9/8/26]
The Lawsuits Were Over Unpaid Amounts As Little As $101. According to The New York Times, “The unpaid bills ranged from several thousand dollars to as little as $101. About half the lawsuits were filed under Mr. Marshall’s name and the rest by Heartland Regional OBGYN, the medical practice he solely owned from 1998 to 2012 and then co-owned with another doctor from 2013 to 2019.” [New York Times, 9/8/26]
Marshall’s Lawyers Sued A Recently-Divorced New Mother Of A Nine-Month-Old Baby. According to The New York Times, “‘I had every intention to pay, I was just struggling,’ said Kellie Clutts, whom Mr. Marshall sued in 2015 over a $129 bill. Ms. Clutts said the charge was from a postpartum visit shortly after her daughter’s birth. Mr. Marshall sued Ms. Clutts when her baby was 9 months old and eventually garnished her bank account. ‘I was recently divorced, trying to do everything on my own,’ said Ms. Clutts, 45. ‘I told them I could make partial payments, but it seemed like no matter what I said, they wanted the full amount at once.’” [New York Times, 9/8/26]
Marshall Sued A Woman After She Lost Her Newborn Twins. According to The New York Times, “Some sent in handwritten letters asking for leniency. One, whom Mr. Marshall sued in 2004 for $1,200, asked that she not be held liable for care she received ‘for me and my twins (who I lost).’ She was still found responsible for the bill.” [New York Times, 9/8/26]
Marshall’s Volume Of Patient Lawsuits And Collection Tactics Were Seen As “Extreme.” According to The New York Times, “Even so, wage garnishments and arrests of patients are ‘definitely on the extreme side,’ Mr. Richman said. Neale Mahoney, an economist at Stanford University, has conducted research in one state finding that lawsuits against patients are relatively rare, with about 1.7 percent of hospital stays resulting in litigation. ‘It’s not surprising there are outliers but this does seem to be an extreme case,’ in terms of how far a doctor went to pursue debt, Mr. Mahoney said.” [New York Times, 9/8/26]
Marshall Continued To Collect On Medical Debts For Years After He Was Elected To Congress. According to The New York Times, “Mr. Marshall stopped practicing medicine after winning election to Congress in 2016. But some of his collection work continued during his time serving in the House of Representatives, from 2017 to 2021, The Times found.” [New York Times, 9/8/26]
Marshall’s Lawsuits Led To At Least 81 Patients Being Arrested Over Missed Court Dates. According to The New York Times, “Patients were arrested in 81 of those cases for missing court dates, the record show. In an additional 13 lawsuits, Mr. Marshall’s lawyers sought warrants but it is unclear whether an arrest occurred.” [New York Times, 9/8/26]
Police Arrested One Of Marshall’s Patients While Her Grandchildren Were Preparing For An Egg Hunt. According to The New York Times, “A doctor had filed a lawsuit against him and his wife over an unpaid $4,561 bill from her emergency hysterectomy three years earlier. They had missed a court date, and the doctor’s lawyers asked the court to issue an arrest warrant. The police took the couple into custody as their grandchildren prepared for an egg hunt, Mr. Vasquez said. They spent two days in jail before their son could borrow the money to post bond. ‘We had no money to pay,’ said Mr. Vasquez, now 68. At the time, his wife was working at a manufacturing plant and he was on disability, he said.” [New York Times, 9/8/26]
Police Arrested One Of Marshall’s Patients While She Was Eight Months Pregnant And With Her Two-Year-Old-Daughter. According to The New York Times, “The first time Meischa Zimmerman was arrested for missing a court date related to a C-section bill from Mr. Marshall was in 2011. She was home with her 2-year-old, and eight months pregnant. ‘I asked them quietly: Can you not handcuff me in front of my daughter?’ said Ms. Zimmerman, 44. ‘I explained to my daughter I was going for a ride.’ Ms. Zimmerman was arrested twice more, in 2013 and 2016, each time posting $200 bonds that would go toward paying down her debt, according to receipts The Times reviewed. Court records indicate that she was hand-delivered notices of the hearings she needed to attend, but Ms. Zimmerman said she did not receive such documents.” [New York Times, 9/8/26]
Marshall’s Lawyers Regularly Charged Patients With An 18 Percent Interest Rate On Unpaid Medical Bills. According to The New York Times, “They also garnished patients’ paychecks and bank accounts. They routinely charged patients an 18 percent annual interest rate. […] Five months later, with her $3,596 bill for the delivery still unpaid, Mr. Marshall sued her. ‘I had to choose whether I’d pay my electricity or pay $50 to a doctor who didn’t need it,’ she said. Ms. Zimmerman said she set up a $50 monthly payment plan in 2010 but sometimes could not keep up. Mr. Marshall’s law firm was charging 18 percent interest on her bill, and she recalls being told that it had ballooned to over $7,000 with interest.” [New York Times, 9/8/26]
Marshall Pushed A Bill To Cap Credit Card Interest Rates At 10 Percent For One Year, Citing “Outrageous Interest Rates” Of “20 to 30%” That Were Causing Consumers To Be “Crushed” And “Ripped Off.” According to Fox News, “Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., plans to introduce legislation that would make good on Trump’s push to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year. However, Republican leadership in both chambers has already pushed back against the idea, arguing that it could lead to credit scarcity. Marshall’s bill, the Consumer Affordability Protection Act, would limit the amount that credit card companies could charge for one year, capping the ceiling at Trump’s desired rate of 10%. […] Marshall said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the legislation was about ‘giving families breathing room, restoring fairness in the marketplace, and making sure the American Dream is still within reach for everyone who works hard and plays by the rules.’ ‘Credit cards were meant to be a tool — not a trap,’ Marshall said. ‘Right now, millions of hard-working Americans are getting crushed by outrageous interest rates that make it nearly impossible to pay down debt and get ahead.’ The bill follows Trump’s demand that Americans no longer be "‘ripped off’ by credit card companies that are charging interest rates of 20 to 30%, and even more, which festered unimpeded during the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration.’” [Fox News, 1/15/26]