Lawyers for Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) have sent a cease-and-desist letter to his Democratic opponent Adam Hamilton over a campaign ad focused on medical debt lawsuits.
The ad centers on Meischa Zimmerman, who claims she was arrested after failing to make a monthly payment of $50 toward her medical debt owed to Marshall.
Marshall practiced as an OB-GYN before his election to Congress in 2016, giving the allegations a particularly sharp edge against his professional reputation.
“Roger Marshall preyed on the low-income families of Kansas,” Zimmerman said in the ad, which has already surpassed one million views on the social platform X.
The cease-and-desist letter, obtained by the Kansas Reflector, accused the ad of “falsely accusing a physician of having a pregnant patient arrested over a $50 bill.”
The letter further stated the ad “strikes directly at Senator Marshall’s professional integrity as a physician and his fitness for public office,” according to the Kansas Reflector.
Zimmerman is reportedly one of more than 700 patients sued by Marshall’s lawyers before he entered the Senate, according to The New York Times.
Those lawsuits resulted in 81 patients being arrested over outstanding medical debts, with many accounts carrying high interest rates that caused balances to balloon significantly.
Marshall addressed the reporting during a debate at the Kansas State Fair, calling it a “hit job” and defending the collection practices as routine business conduct.
“Those are common, common business practices, we would go a year before we would send someone over,” Marshall said during the debate.
The controversy arrives at a complicated moment for Marshall politically, as he has reportedly broken with President Trump on certain issues despite the president reaffirming his endorsement last week.
With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, the ad and subsequent legal threats are likely to intensify scrutiny of Marshall’s record as both a physician and a sitting senator.
