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Dr. Gupta, Please Call the White House

January 7, 2009
by Amy Menefee

The media began buzzing yesterday about the best-known TV doctor besides Dr. House. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's health guru and a practicing neurosurgeon, is President-elect Obama's choice for surgeon general.

It's an interesting choice for someone who is likely to give Americans health advice. His statements on TV news have ranged from funny -- urging us not to eat or breathe in our iPhones and earbuds -- to more serious agreement with increased government intervention, including tax increases on food items aimed at combating obesity. 

In addition to practicing both medicine and journalism, Dr. Gupta "was a White House fellow in the late 1990s, writing speeches and crafting policy for Hillary Clinton," The Washington Post reported. The Post's sources said Dr. Gupta as surgeon general "would have an expanded role in providing health policy advice" compared to those previously in the role.

Neither New York Times columnist Paul Krugman nor filmmaker Michael Moore is excited about the choice of Dr. Gupta, because the doctor questioned some of Mr. Moore's "facts" in his health-care film "SiCKO."

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