WASHINGTON (TIP): The Indian American Hero Dr. Vivek Murthy, America’s top doctor, was dismissed by Donald Trump‘s administration on Friday, April 21, 2017 as the US Surgeon General.
Dr. Vivek Murthy taking charge as the US Surgeon General cemented the reputation physicians of Indian origin have across America. President Obama made the right choice in naming a highly-qualified physician to serve as America’s surgeon general.
The surgeon general, known as “America’s doctor,” represents the Health and Human Services Secretary and Assistant Secretary in addressing public health practice in the nation. Murthy, 39, was America’s youngest-ever top doctor, and he is also the first surgeon general of Indian-American descent. Dr. Vivek Murthy represents the next generation of Indian American physician. His ethics, quiet leadership style and impeccable credentials made him the smart choice for this position.
Murthy was named America’s top doctor by President Barack Obama in 2014, making him the first Indian American ever named to the post, one among many growing achievement of a tiny but economically powerful ethnic community. In a very short span of time, Dr. Murthy had played key role in bringing to the forefront many crucial health issues confronting the nation. Dr. Murthy said, being picked for the job was a “uniquely American story” for the “grandson of a poor farmer from India.”
It was not immediately clear why Murthy was relieved from duty, the New York Times said while noting that employees at the Department of Health and Human Services privately expressed surprise at his sudden departure. Murthy, the 19th Surgeon General, and the first Indian American to hold this post said in a Facebook Post that it was an honor and privilege to work for this prestigious position.
“For the grandson of a poor farmer from India to be asked by the President to look out for the health of an entire nation was a humbling and uniquely American story. I will always be grateful to our country for welcoming my immigrant family nearly 40 years ago and giving me this opportunity to serve,” he said.
In a post on Facebook, Murthy said. “For the grandson of a poor farmer from India to be asked by the President to look out for the health of an entire nation was a humbling and uniquely American story. I will always be grateful to our country for welcoming my immigrant family nearly 40 years ago and giving me this opportunity to serve,” he added.
Murthy went on to recount his goals and achievements as surgeon general and said he “had hoped to do more to help our nation tackle its biggest health challenges, (but) I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have served”. He says he was the ‘grandson of a poor farmer from India’.
The US health and human services said in a statement on Friday he had been asked “to resign from his duties as surgeon general after assisting in a smooth transition into the new Trump Administration … (and stood) relieved of his duties”.
Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, a nurse by training and currently deputy surgeon general, was named to serve as the acting surgeon general and assume leadership of the US public health service commissioned corps.