Gupta Gets Thumbs Down From Doc Org

According to recent news reports, CNN's chief medical reporter, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is Mr. Obama's top contender for the next Surgeon General. Dr. Gupta is popular among CNN viewers, but are his communications skills and medical background the right fit for US Surgeon General?

The Surgeon General typically puts a public face on public health issues. America certainly could use leadership (and funding) for public health initiatives. Treatments for lifestyle-related chronic illnesses, such as heart disease and diabetes, consume more than 80% of our 2.2 trillion healthcare dollars. A public health campaign focused on encouraging healthy lifestyles could help turn the tide in the obesity wave engulfing our country.

Good communications skills and public appeal aren't good enough, say some critics who have likened Gupta's appointment to giving Judge Judy a seat on the Supreme Court. Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), a group of doctors that advocates a national health program is the solution to the crisis in American healthcare, agrees.

Consider PNHP's objections:

"1. [Gupta] has very little background in public health, preventive medicine or administration.

2. He has openly opposed progressive health reform, going so far as to cite false information to denigrate single payer (e.g. in his error-laden attack on Michael Moore's film "Sicko") and parroting the health insurance lobby's distortions of single payer.

3. 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. Another example: 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. In the 2008 election campaign, [Gupta's] reporting on John McCain's health proposals was misleading and implicitly positive, giving undeserved credence to McCain's claims that buying private health insurance on the open market is a financially viable option for most Americans."

If you're troubled by Gupta's record and associations, consider posting an objection on the Transition Team website: http://change.gov/page/s/healthcare