Senate confirms Obama's nominee for surgeon general

Doctor Vivek Murthy was confirmed as the US surgeon general Monday, despite opposition from Senate Republicans and some Democrats due to his past statements on gun violence. 

The U.S. Senate on Monday approved President Barack Obama's nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy to serve as U.S. surgeon general, despite opposition from Republicans and some Democrats over his support for gun control and past statements that gun violence is a public health issue.

The U.S. has been without a Senate-confirmed surgeon general since July 2013. The surgeon general does not set policy but is an advocate for the people's health.

Murthy, 37, a physician at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School, won confirmation on a vote of 51-43. The son of immigrants from India is a co-founder of Doctors for America, a group that has pushed for affordable health care and supports Obama's health care law.

Supporters said Murthy is well-qualified and noted his promise not to use the position as a bully pulpit for gun control.

Murthy's confirmation "makes us better positioned to save lives around the world and protect the American people here at home," President Barack Obama said in a statement. Murthy "will also help us build on the progress we've made combatting Ebola, both in our country and at its source" in West Africa.

Murthy's confirmation represented a rare defeat for the National Rifle Association, the influential gun owners lobbying group, told senators that a vote for Murthy would be scored against them when they rate lawmakers' votes during election campaigns.

Republican Sen. John Barrasso said most of Murthy's career has been spent as an activist focused on gun control and other political issues, rather than on treating patients. "Americans don't want a surgeon general who might use this position of trust to promote his own personal campaign against the Second Amendment of the Constitution," Barrasso said.

Murthy expressed support for gun control in a letter to Congress after the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting.

His nomination was endorsed by more than 100 health organizations, including the American College of Physicians, the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association.

Before founding Doctors for America, Murthy created a nonprofit that focused on HIV/AIDS education in India and the U.S. And he co-founded a technology company, TrialNetworks, that helps drug developers collaborate on clinical trials.

At a Senate hearing in February, Murthy said he wouldn't use the position to push gun control. He said his priorities include fighting obesity and helping communities promote healthier living.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Senate confirms Obama's nominee for surgeon general
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/1215/Senate-confirms-Obama-s-nominee-for-surgeon-general
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe