Vivek Murthy named ‘America’s Doctor’
Tuesday, 16/12/2014
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
WASHINGTON: US Senate on Monday moved to finally confirm Indian American Vivek Murthy as the next Surgeon General of the country, a position also called “America’s Doctor”.
Murthy, who will become the first Indian American to hold that position, nearly didn’t make it as Republicans blocked a vote over his anti-gun views for months.
And they would have never confirmed him once they took charge of the Senate next January. Democrats had a just a few days to do it, and managed a last minute push. Senate majority leader Harry Reid called the vote Monday morning.
At 36, Murthy will be the youngest Surgeon General ever.
Born in England to a family from Karnataka, Murthy has been with Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is the co-founder of Doctors for America, a non-profit.
This group, which evolved from a group of doctors supporting Barack Obama’s election campaign in 2007-08, supports the president’s healthcare reform and gun control. And that got him into trouble with the Republicans.
The first hint of it came at his confirmation hearing in February. Republican senator Lamar Alexander asked, “To what extent do you intend to use the surgeon general’s office as a bully pulpit for gun control?”
Murthy replied he did not intend to use the office to pursue gun control, saying his “priority will be obesity prevention”. But the gun lobby wasn’t convinced. The National Rifles Association send a letter to all US senators opposing his confirming saying.
A vote didn’t take place, despite the fact that Democrats controlled the Senate, and had the numbers to send him through, until 10 months after the hearing.