Sanjay General
So Dr. Sanjay Gupta, 39, will get to wear the three shoulder stars of surgeon general in the Obama administration (thanks, Sunil). At first blush this seems like the freebie appointment after the gravitas ones are done: people are playing paper football, everyone’s a little punchy, and someone pipes up, ‘Hey, what about that Goopta fella on CNN?’
But, like Padma and Salman, the power actually flows the other way. The question isn’t whether Gupta, a neurosurgeon and doc in a box who teaches part-time at Emory, is as qualified as the old-time wheezing stalwarts like C. Everett Koop. We know he isn’t because he’s boyish and sans mullah beard. The real question is why Gupta would give up the far greater public health influence of being on CNN every day. Surgeon general is two levels below the cabinet (Sec. of Health and Human Services) and is so reviled by conservatives for its reliance on actual science that Dubya has left the post empty since ‘06:
Dr. Richard Carmona testified before Congress in 2007 that the Bush administration muzzled him, forced him to trumpet administration priorities, restricted his travel and suppressed or tried to weaken important public health reports… Dr. Koop earned the public’s respect in part because he eschewed the Reagan administration’s talking points. [NYT]
The surgeon general is rarely heard from except when committing a political gaffe like encouraging masturbation. (Surgeon general-approved!)
The answer lies in the fluff which CNN forces upon Gupta. The guy’s a brain surgeon, but he’s called upon for snap medical judgments on celebrity crime without ever having examined the victim. As surgeon general, Gupta will command a 6,000-strong public health corps called upon in case of emergency, such as a mass anthrax attack. Gupta will be trading down (far down) on salary in exchange for having a real health impact. Even better, he gets to design ever-scarier cigarette warnings and hector our president to quit smoking at long last.
Yeah, he could live with that. Congrats.
Richard Simmons gives good public health advice and then freaks out Kiran Chetry by kissing her foot:
Previously: My good name is Sanjay
on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009, 3:00 pm in Health, TV, Video clips › 
Email this
› 
Retweet
› 
Reddit this
› Link
› Reader links
The Surgeon General appointment has more to do with communication about public health, and indeed public health itself has to do more with communication to and with the public - than is generally appreciated. Here Gupta’s CNN experience would be useful, to say the least. Now all channels will carry him whenever he makes a public statement! No dour Koop or academic Satcher or mis-speaking Elders, but the neurosurgeon-newsman himself for Surgeon-General.
Actually, this is absolutely not true. The Sturgeon general is definitely the biggest fish in the administration.
You bought that hook, line and sinker. The biggest fish is the son-fish.
And here I thought Richard Simmons was gay. How shallow of me.
Read this. It doesn’t bode well for “reliance on actual science.”
Suede, Richard Simmons is from New Orleans. We’re all gay down here.