Today In Political History: 11 January
Sunday January 11, 2009
Here's why the Surgeon General position is an important one.
On this date in 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Leonidas Terry called cigarette smoking a "health hazard" and called for "corrective action." His announcement was the culmination of 14 months of research by a 10-member federal panel that he chaired; the panel evaluated more than 8,000 reports of research on smoking and health. It was the first time that the U.S. government officially raised a warning flag regarding smoking.
Barack Obama reportedly wants CNN health specialist Dr. Sanjay Gupta, 39, to be his Surgeon General, the nation's chief spokesperson on matters of public health.
Comments
While Gupta is perhaps okay as a TV personality, he does not have the qualifications to serve in the role of Surgeon General of the US. There are major concerns.
1. As a media figure, Gupta has been disturbingly cozy with Big Pharma. He co-hosts Turner Private Networks’ monthly show “Accent Health,” which airs in doctors’ offices around the country and which serves as a major conduit for targeted ads from the drug companies.
2. He has openly opposed progressive health reform, and cited false information in an effort to discredit Michael Moore’s film “Sicko”. Ultimately, it was found that Gupta distorted the facts.
3. In 2003, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, he publicly downplayed concerns about the dangers of Vioxx. It was removed from the market a year later by its manufacturer, Merck.
4. Media watchdog groups have also expressed concern about lack of objectivity in his reporting: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3135 and
http://mediamatters.org/items/200707120001
Appointing Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General is like appointing “Judge Judy” to the Supreme Court. Dr. Gupta has few qualifications to be Surgeon General. He has openly rejected the view that American healthcare is in serious trouble; he has no experience in public health, public health policy or administration.
Dr Gupta is connected closely with the big Pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies that have put us in the healthcare crisis we are in. He has too many conflicts of interest.