The report that Barack Obama has asked Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN to consider the position of Surgeon General in the new administration is a very exciting development.
Dr Gupta worked as a White House Fellow in 1997 under Hillary Clinton and has gained great credibility as a neurosurgeon and in his medical reporting for CNN over the past number of years. He is a great communicator who would be an asset in promoting President Obama’s health care initiatives in tandem with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Daschle.Â
Gupta would raise the stature and dignity of the Surgeon General’s office, which has often been undistinguished in its leadership in recent years. The promotion of stem cell research and the continued fight against AIDS would be priorities, as well as Gupta’s fight on CNN against obesity.
Again, Obama has done a fantastic job in picking his cabinet and top advisers and experts. The US government will gain by Gupta’s appointment at the same time that CNN will lose a great advocate of health care education!