Senate Confirms New Surgeon General After 13-month Delay
December 16, 2014
The U.S. Senate yesterday confirmed Vivek Murthy as the next surgeon general of the United States. The vote was 51-to-43. President Barack Obama nominated Murthy in November 2013, but Senate Republicans held up his confirmation, claiming he was unqualified. However, political analysts note that Murthy’s nomination was opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) on the grounds that he had written articles criticizing both guns and the NRA. Murthy has described guns as a “health care issue.”
Murthy earned both medical and business degrees from Yale. He teaches at Harvard Medical School and practices and teaches at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He co-founded a clinical trials company and an HIV education organization. At the age of 37, Murthy is youngest surgeon general in U.S. history and the first of Indian descent.