This past week, Neurosurgeon and Cable News Network (CNN) Health Reporter, Sanjay Gupta, M.D., was offered the position as President Elect Obama’s Surgeon General. It hit me that ever since C. Everett Koop retired, the Office of Surgeon General has slid into obscurity.
The Office of Surgeon General runs the nation’s approximate 11,000 public health services, but more importantly, can be used as a bully pulpit to promote health. Dr. Koop was a genius at using his position to bring attention to AIDS and the dangers of tobacco.
Dr. Gupta seems like a decent guy who recently took on Michael Moore on his “disinformation-laden” documentary, “SICKO.” He is also generally concerned with promoting health, which given the epidemic of obesity, I believe is a great choice. Public Health leadership has been poorly lacking for the last two decades, and it would be great to see a return of a Surgeon General that leads the country in promoting healthy practices and would be at the forefront in disasters.
Other reasons for the choice could include that Dr. Gupta represents the new breed of first generation American’s like President Obama who have strange names like Gupta and Obama but represent the new face of America.
So bring him on, let us have some real debate over healthcare issues and medicine and see more new blood lead the country.
America needs a strong Surgeon General, and Dr. Gupta is the right guy to do it.
Just one note, it can take up to six to nine months for the Senate to approve a Surgeon General, so Dr. Gupta do not quit your day job on CNN or the surgery practice at Emory.