Hatrack River Forum: WaPo: Obama Wants Journalist Gupta for Surgeon General

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Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :

quote:
Obama Wants Journalist Gupta for Surgeon General

President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.

Gupta has told administration officials that he wants the job, and the final vetting process is under way. He has asked for a few days to figure out the financial and logistical details of moving his family from Atlanta to Washington but is expected to accept the offer.

When reached for comment today, Gupta did not deny the account but declined to comment.

I have no idea who this is, don't watch much CNN. Any thoughts?

Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :

Woah - not really.

He's basically the guy that comes on whenever CNN does a medical story. I met him once - he was at the National Book Festival a couple of years ago. He was a practicing physician up until about three years ago, but he's done CNN stuff since then.

I kind of like this appointment - he's definitely a doctor, and he's clearly practiced in communicating about medical matters. What is it exactly that the surgeon general does? If it is to educate the public, it does kind of make sense to get someone that lots of people are used to listening to, as long as he or she is a real doctor.

Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :

I think he was a White House Fellow and (formal or informal, don't know) sometime medical advisor during the Clinton years. He is generally evidence-based and factually correct, from what I've seen. I recall he contested with Moore over some of the details in Sicko.

There is nothing offhand to worry about, that I know of.

---

edited to add: neurosurgeon, I think?

Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :

quote:
Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese:
I recall he contested with Moore over some of the details in Sicko.

I think I remember seeing that segment, actually, although I never saw Sicko.

Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :

Interesting.

--j_k

Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :

It's CNN's top story right now.

I think the appointment makes sense. He has medical experience as well as experience in communicating and educating people about their health. He seems pretty qualified.

Though I can't help but think it's also to try to get him more positive press for Obama. If something negative about Gupta does arise (not saying there is), would CNN really want to report it? It was their own guy. [Big Grin]

Posted by Architraz Warden (Member # 4285) on :

Read this and you'll be feeling pretty good about the possibility.

Sure CNN is going to drum up their corespondent's resume, but he sounds like a remarkably good choice with a heck of a range of experiences.

Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :

The only real concern I have about the appointment is that it reinforces the obsession with celebrity that is becoming more and more prevalent in our country. But he seems to be qualified, and Obama has to pick someone. Getting noticed is half the battle, I suppose.

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

The Surgeon General slot has pretty much always been about celebrity, AFAIK.

Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :

Yep. Remember when Madonna was Surgeon General? I still think that she touted hymen reconstruction surgery simply to sell more copies of her "Like a Virgin" 45.

[ January 06, 2009, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: Noemon ]

Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :

[Laugh]

Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :

[Hat]

Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :

If Barack wants a doctor with his finger firmly on the pulse of the media and the public, I would suggest Drew Pinsky. Aside from his 25 year tenure on Love Line, (a comedy/sex and drug advice radio program out of LA), and his less *respectable* work on celebrity rehab, Pinsky has hosted a daytime medical advice program that dealt mainly with public perception of medical and health issues. He is also a practicing physician and professor of psychology in LA. I've always been a big fan.

Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :

DP is very, very good in very important ways, and he has fewer (reputed) ties to pharma and big business medicine than SG. I haven't read or heard a thing from DP that I found to be factually inaccurate, undersupported, or better expressed in another way.

Beleive me, that's saying a lot. I am rather curmudgeonly about these matters, even in critically judging my own interactions with others. I'd love having him as US-SG, but I doubt it will ever come to pass.

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

I doubt it as well, and I like him ... but I don't know if he is qualified enough.

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :

From everything I've heard and read, Gupta's potential appointment is being viewed in the context of Obama's larger plans for healthcare.

Obama is very, very aware of the mistakes that the Clintons made when they rolled out their healthcare plan in the early 90's. They did an absolutely awful job of selling it. People thought they'd pay more and be forced to go to a government doctor, which the Republicans gleefully played on and still attempt to to this day.

So who is the Secretary of HHS and Obama's healthcare plan pointman? A former Majority Leader with ties to the Senate. Daschle knows the Hill and the people there, and will be able to walk the halls of power easily. And the Surgeon General? Wasn't able to inform the public under Clinton, but Obama decides to pick someone with good medical credentials and ALSO is one of the most familiar medical faces to the American people.

I think he's making his choices, in regards to healthcare, on two basic criteria: 1. Are they qualified for the job? 2. Can they sell my plan to the public and Congress?

I think the answer to both those questions for Daschle and Gupta is yes.

Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :

Agreed on all parts.

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Partly at Diane's urging, I'm currently reading Daschles' book on health care. Not only did Obama pick Daschle to head HHS, but he also picked one of Daschle's co-authors (Jeanne M. Lambrew) to be assistant director of the White House office on Health Care Reform.

I'm kind of warming up to the idea of Gupta as the Surgeon General. As far as I can tell, he's probably the most disability-friendly of the top-level appointees so far.