He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2008, and faced legal action throughout his time in office, which twice led to his expulsion from the Democratic Progressive Party.
After Lin finished his master's in computer science at JHU, he remained at the university and completed a doctorate in medical policy.
[9] Lin chose to contest the legislative election as a political independent, and the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, an LGBT rights organization, placed him on a list of candidates to boycott.
[26] During the 2005 Taiwanese local elections, Lin Chin-hsing published the medical records of incumbent Taichung mayor Jason Hu, who was seeking reelection.
[27] Hu's party, the Kuomintang, stated that Lin's medical license should be revoked for violations of the Doctor's Law, specifically articles 23 and 25 regarding patient privacy.
The police found the suspects the next day, and both confessed, explaining that they were unhappy with the fact that Lin had never been imprisoned for health insurance fraud, and decided to attack him after passing the eatery.
[43] On 13 June 2012, the Kaohsiung branch of the Taiwan High Court ruled that a February 2006 death at Lin's medical practice was due in part to the absence of an anesthesiologist.
[44] Lin took an entrance exam in July 2009 intending to study veterinary medicine and was admitted to the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.
In 2002, he stated that National Health Insurance rates should not be raised during an economic downturn, or without first reducing inefficiencies and waste in the system.
[46] In 2004, Lin called for the reimbursement rate of smaller hospitals to be increased so that those medical facilities could avoid accruing debt.
[47] During the 2003 SARS outbreak, Lin advised frequent handwashing and stated that gloves were better protection against the virus than gauze masks.
[57][58] Later that year, Lin opposed his party and withdrew support from a deal to acquire Kidd-class destroyers from the United States.
[68] After members of the Pan-Blue Coalition visited China later that year, Lin stated that they should have negotiated repatriation plans for the 2,223 Chinese people who were detained for illegally immigrating to Taiwan.