Sanjay Gupta For Surgeon General?
(AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)
The Washington Post, citing two sources, first reported that Mr. Obama had offered Gupta the job.
"Gupta has told administration officials that he wants the job, and the final vetting process is under way," reported the Post. "He has asked for a few days to figure out the financial and logistical details of moving his family from Atlanta to Washington but is expected to accept the offer."
CBS News can confirm through a source close to Dr. Gupta that the doctor was offered the position.
CBS News has also learned from a source close to Dr. Gupta that he was approached weeks ago about the position and that he had sought advice about whether or not he should take the job shortly after he was approached.
Another source close to Dr. Gupta (whom Gupta asked for advice) tells CBS News that Gupta feels drawn to public service and confirms the approach was made a while back.
The CBS News bio of Gupta notes that the doctor performs surgery weekly at Grady Memorial Hospital and is a member of the staff and faculty of the department of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. Check out some of Gupta's work for CBS News below:
Here's more background from the Post:
The offer followed a two-hour Chicago meeting in November with Obama, who said that Gupta could be the highest-profile surgeon general in history and would have an expanded role in providing health policy advice, the sources said. Gupta later spoke with Tom Daschle, Obama's White House health czar and nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, and other advisers to the president-elect.
The Michigan-born son of Indian and Pakistani parents, Gupta has always been drawn to health policy. He was a White House fellow in the late 1990s, writing speeches and crafting policy for Hillary Clinton. His appointment would give the administration a prominent official of Southwest Asian descent and a skilled television spokesman.
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Posted by assemblyofso at 01:19 PM : Jan 07, 2009"
And what makes you qualified to make that decision?
Personally, I''d have gone for Dr. House for SG.
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We got your point. Shut up
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Posted by psy_war at 09:26 AM : Jan 07, 2009
Wow, got your panties in a bunch? I give two posts about the subject, and recount personal experience and your telling me to shut up. You''re a joke and by the way your thought on the subject held little relevance, so I think you should be the one to shut up.
Austin Powers to head FBI?
Pleeeze.
This is laughable.
The man is a Hollywood fraud.
May as well pick Brit Spears as
spokesperson for the White House.
Another pick would be Paris Hilton
for Press Secretary.
Posted by editorCBS
The audacity of dope, the triumph of ghetto politics in America.
Posted by editorCBS
You hillbillies must be rolling over in your trailer parks with the diversity on Obama''s team. If you''d stop breeding with your relatives, you might be able to finish the 3rd grade in a generation or two. It''s about time that the GOP stopped pandering to your stupidity.
Absolutely. I am partial to the French system (as I have relatives who live there who are very happy with it). Unfortunately I don''t think there''ll be much change in the U.S. except for stop-gap measures, as the insurance and the AMA (American Medical Association) lobbies are very strong.
Thanks for your comment. Our system is nowhere near being like those you mentioned. You do agree that we need to have some sort of gov''t guaranteed program to control costs don''t you.
The French healthcare system, deemed the best in the world, lets people choose their own doctors who work in the private sector. Payments are reimbursed by the gov''t. People who want to pay for expensive doctors can buy supplemental insurance. This is in contrast to British and Canadian doctors who are state employees (a true socialized system). The point is that universal healthcare system are not all the same, and some are better than others.
PS
Every single other developed Nation on the planet has a single payer National Health Insurance program for its citizens (or Socialized medicine). America stands alone as the only exception. When will we wake up and realize private health insurance has been a disaster. It does not keep costs down through competition. It excludes a large part of the population with high costs and pre-existing conditions exclusions, large co-pays and deductibles. Sanjay supports this flawed system.
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Posted by standlee5 at 09:36 PM : Jan 06, 2009
This is exactly what''s already been done in some other countries. Nobody is taking away choice if you want and can afford it. The plan is to simply make health insurance mandatory, with gov''t help for those who cannot afford it. This is much better and cheaper than health care using the ER. You still get to choose the insurance provider you want and the coverage you want. In fact, it has the potential to be better than the current system, where your employer largely gets to choose your plan and your coverage (always with the idea of saving money by cutting coverage and raising premiums).
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