Dr. Who: Crowdsourcing the Next Surgeon General
Published January 10, 2009 @ 01:31PM PT
Since my initial post, many of you have chimed in with your disapproval of the rumored appointment of Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General. All good points, by the way. One of the things I can’t help wondering – for the oft-cited comment “there are so many better candidates out there,” very few bloggers or members of the media have been making lists of who these better candidates are.
Marc Ambinder, back before the election, had suggested Kathleen Sullivan of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Advisory Board, but that doesn’t seem credible (and if Gupta’s television experience isn’t satisfying, Ms. Sullivan’s years as an Emmy-award winning television broadcaster won’t reassure you.)
Diana Mason on Disruptive Women in Health Care mentions two people who have told her explicitly they’re not interested in the job, but make interesting suggestions nevertheless. Dr. Thomas Friedman has been the Commissioner of Health in New York City and deserves as much credit as anyone for the tobacco ban in restaurants and bars (good for my dry cleaning bills, tremendously better for my health), the banning of trans fatty acids in restaurants, and the new ordinance requiring caloric content being posted in chains and delis – all successful programs that might be implemented at the state level. NYC has made great strides in HIV, metal health and Electronic Health Records on his watch. Moreover, he has the Masters in Public Health and the range of scientific articles and international experience to conjure the “gravitas” appropriate to the job.
She also suggests Kristie Gebbie, who is a nurse and professor at Columbia’s School of Nursing with a doctorate in Public Health. She was Director of the Department Health in Oregon, Secretary of the Department of Health in Washington State, and most famously AIDS Czar under Bill Clinton.
I know there are other candidates out there – but my initial Web surfing hasn’t turned them up. So to borrow a page from my colleague Clay Burell over on the Public Education blog, let’s crowdsource!
Use the comments field below. Who’s doing a good job in the field of public health in your state, city or county? Who’s doing great work that we don’t even know about? If you don’t have a candidate, then let us know what issues the next Surgeon General needs to tackle as a top priority. My one request – keep it to public health issues (as no matter who the SG is, regulating the insurance companies will be done by Congress, the President, and the Health and Human Services Dept, not the SG). Obesity? HIV/AIDS? Depression? Addiction? Dental Health?
What should the Surgeon General of the 21st Century focus on – you decide!
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Tim has been an online organizer and blogger on health care policy for the Obama for America campaign (during the primaries) and currently for the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare, a labor union for intern and resident doctors. Views expressed here are Tim's, and don't represent the positions of CIR or SEIU.
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Dr. Quentin Young, or Sidney Wolffe, or Steffie Woolhandler, or David Himmelstein, or ...
Posted by B. Spoon on 01/10/2009 @ 03:52PM PT
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The next Surgeon General and the country should establish equal genital protection law for all children, regardless of sex, religion, culture, genital or aesthetic "preferences" of the parents, or ANYONE'S speculations or even scientific research about "potential medical benefits" of non-therapeutic medically unnecessary amputations of healthy genital body parts from necessarily non-consenting minors. Cutting off other people's normal, healthy body parts without their consent is a crime. When the body parts are genital the crime is sexual. Circumcising children is a sex crime. Genitally mutilating cultures and individual genital mutilationists do not get to define God-given, unalienable human rights out of existence. They should educate themselves and quit attacking other people's normal, healthy sex organs or they should go directly to jail for a very long time. What sex the child happens to have been born and who his or her parents are or what they happen to think or feel are all 100% irrelevant. Privates are private. Quit sexually mutilating and killing babies and children for nothing. Child sacrifice was supposed to have ended with Abraham.
Posted by Van Lewis on 01/10/2009 @ 08:00PM PT
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Do you think that I am a criminal because my culture requires male circumcision at the 8th day after birth and my son had Brith? Do you think that Queen Elizabeth is a criminal because her sons and her grandsons were also circumcised?
The Surgeon general should join forces with Physicians for Social Responsibility and Doctors for a Single payer health CARE (not insurance) system that is simple, transparent and encourages healthy life-style. That would also include dental care and eye care, since those are integral parts of a person' health... what we have now is a nightmare...especially for working poor without health insurance,
Posted by Vlasta Molak on 01/11/2009 @ 07:28PM PT
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The person that I recognize has been the most active
yet the least endorsed, in defending my health freedoms
Other than from the public themselves, someone who proposes in not limiting the possible care for americans but expanding it with what God in whom we supposedly trust has provided for us as US citizens and world wide.
Who defends the peoples right to choose which way to be treated rather than forcing them to any one option while ommiting all others, for the benfit of special interest pharma
The only person I believe would defend my right to PROPER health care , gets my vote for Surgeon general and I am sure I am not the only one.... However I doubt big Pharmaceutical co's would approve. But then their is your opportunity to prove to the US citizens whom their government works for really,
the people or big Pharmaceutical co's ?
if this women was chosen , we the people would get better health care options, increased possibilities of getting CURED and Healthy again, freedom of choice, and all that, benefits.
everything that we have been missing for long now, as the FDA makes rulings that make any 12 year old look Wiser.
My Nomination for Surgeon General and your opportunity to truly be speaking about "HEALTH CARE" rather than legislated sales of Pharmaceutical drugs for the benefit of the few over the health of many ;
Rima E. Laibow, MD
Medical Director
Natural Solutions Foundation
www.HealthFreedomUSA.org
She is my and many others choice, for this post where Health, not political clout should be addressed.
No one other than this person in 40 years has proven yet in office or position to really make change for Cures....
Instead of Pharmaceutical sales.
Otherwise why do so many go elsewhere to get their diseases Cured , because they are no longer fooled at laws that prohibit Na no Silver, promote forced Vaccinations with unknown long term results, and have a record of creating more diseases in the last 50 years that curing them .
Please awaken Health care is about Health,giving and providing freedom to have options to do what one feels is best for him or her health as the patient and citizen. Not promoting elongated and debilitating unnecessary drug dependencies and side affects, for the sake of a few stock holders over the American public well being.
We as the citizens of the US are well aware how our health has become a political pond for the profit of a few over the Health of many, the statistical facts prove my statements , more diabetes, more cancers, more heart attacks, more chemicals in everything from food , water , and air.
exactly what they are supposed to be protecting us against is what they are promoting instead of protecting the US citizens again the gov seems to clearly favour lobbyist, over our safety and the freedom to choose as a minimum.
so far they do neither. but they do do the opposite of what they are there for- If someone wants to have faith from the sick
they should allow for ways that do cure and not just make them illegal to protect certain commerce. as is obvious as that is what is done to date. The people are not all fooled , so give a peoples representative a true chance to help not only health care but our economy and productivity as well as alleviating much unneeded surgeries and drug consumption, as I thought our country was on a war on drugs, except they seem to forget that there are many drugs that are protected when it is known to hurt people , so someone better clean this up. and it
" ain't" special interest chemical lobbying groups who should be consulted, but people who have proven to want the best for patients , True doctors not politicians we know how well they decide things and from what stance .
OK that the end of my expressions of thought , for the benefit of all !
Posted by Jai Mati on 01/19/2009 @ 09:52AM PT
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Dr. George D Lundberg FOR SURGEON GENERAL The RIGHT person in the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time!
Join the Dr. George D Lundberg FOR SURGEON GENERAL Cause: Facebook DR. GEORGE LUNDBERG FOR SURGEON GENERAL
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720711684&ref=name#/group.php?sid=7bf8781ded985a1615a9659aa8f93505&gid=45444711924
http://www.irasciblechef.com/dr-george-d-lundberg/
Dr George Lundberg not only is a consummate public health scientist who knows public health issues, he strongly embraces the above three priorities in words and deeds.
As Editor- in-Chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association’s journal, commonly known as JAMA, between 1982-1999, the most widely read medical journal in the world, Dr. Lundberg earned the respect of a worldwide readership of JAMA. In 1999 he then went onto become(until January 30, 2009) Editor-in-Chief of MEDSCAPE, the leading source of online health information and education for physicians thus establishing himself as genuine pioneer in e-medicine work a trend he recognized very early and began at the AMA. He was dubbed “Online HealthCare’s Medicine Man” by The Industry Standard. He excels in both professional and patient medical education.
—IrascibleChef
Posted by Irascible Chef on 03/06/2009 @ 12:39PM PT
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