Sanjay Gupta pulls out of US Surgeon General race

07 March 2009

Sanjay Gupta, the top contender for the post of US Surgeon General under the Obama administration, has withdrawn his candidature, citing personal reasons. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon who is also the chief medical correspondent for CNN, said he wanted to spend more time with his family, as well as continue to practice medicine and work as a journalist.

His wife Rebecca Olson Gupta is currently pregnant. "My wife is imminent with our third child. You know, this job … takes us away from our children for so many years at once, and I sort of came to grips with the fact that I'd probably be away at least the first several years. … And I just didn't feel like I should do that now," Gupta said on CNN's Larry King Live programme.

Government officials cited the same ''personal'' reasons for Gupta leaving the race for a post that is in many ways the public face of medicine in the United States. However, both CNN and some of those in the administration also feel that a campaign by some liberal groups to prevent a paid broadcaster from taking the top health post may also have played a part.

Some groups cited his critical reporting on government-run health-care systems, while others raised the possibility of conflict of interest because Gupta had participated in TV programming on a health channel for doctors' offices. The programming was partly underwritten by drug companies.

He also appears on the CBS Evening News and in Time magazine columns. Gupta has published a book about the search for immortality in 2007; and he is paid for speaking assignments.

For several years, Gupta has been the co-anchor of a health care show distributed monthly for broadcast on special flat screen TVs provided free to medical waiting rooms. However, the show is sponsored by various companies who advertise on it.