Vivek Murthy

Vivek Hallegere Murthy (born July 10, 1977) is an American physician and former vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States.[1] Murthy, who founded the nonprofit Doctors for America in 2008, was the first Surgeon General of Indian descent and, while serving in office, was the youngest active duty flag officer in federal uniformed service.

Vivek Murthy
19th Surgeon General of the United States
In office
December 18, 2014 – April 21, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
Preceded byBoris Lushniak
Succeeded byJerome Adams
Personal details
Born
Vivek Hallegere Murthy

(1977-07-10) July 10, 1977
Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
(
m. 2015)
EducationHarvard University (AB)
Yale University (MD, MBA)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service USPHS Commissioned Corps
Years of service2014–2017
Rank Vice Admiral

Early life and education

Murthy was born on July 10, 1977,[2] in Huddersfield, England, to immigrants from Karnataka, India. In 1978 the family crossed the Atlantic to Newfoundland, where his father worked as a District Medical Officer. When he was three years old, the family relocated to Miami, Florida,[2] where his parents established a medical practice.[3] Murthy was raised and completed his early education in Miami, graduating as valedictorian from Miami Palmetto Senior High School in 1994.[4] He then attended college at Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemical Sciences.[4] In 2003, Murthy earned an MD from Yale School of Medicine and an MBA from Yale School of Management, where he was a recipient of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.[5][6]

Career

While a Harvard freshman in 1995, Murthy co-founded VISIONS Worldwide, which he led for eight years. The nonprofit organization focused on HIV/AIDS education in the U.S. and India. In 1997, he co-founded the Swasthya Community Health Partnership to train women as community health workers in rural India.[6][7]

Medical career

Murthy completed his Internal Medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts where he also led and managed medical care teams as a faculty member.[7]

He is also a founder and president of Doctors for America, a group of over 15,000 physicians and medical students supporting high quality affordable care for all.[8][9] As part of this work, he developed and led national and local initiatives around coverage and prevention.

In 2011, Murthy was appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. Presidential Advisory Council on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.[10] The group advises the National Prevention Council on developing strategies and partnerships to advance the nation's health through prevention.[11]

Murthy is also the co-founder and chairman of TrialNetworks, a cloud-based Clinical Trial Optimization System for pharmaceutical and biotechnology trials that improves the quality and efficiency of clinical trials to bring new drugs to market faster and more safely.[12][13] He founded the company as Epernicus in 2008 to originally be a collaborative networking web platform for scientists to boost research productivity.[14]

Surgeon General of the United States
Vivek Murthy with the NIH director Francis Collins in 2015

In November 2013, Murthy was nominated by President Obama for the post of United States Surgeon General.[14] His nomination met resistance in the Senate by some Democrats, Republicans and the National Rifle Association regarding previous comments Murthy made declaring gun violence as a threat to public health.[15][16][17]

Murthy's nomination received broad support from over 100 medical and public health organizations in the U.S., including the American Heart Association, American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association.[18] His nomination was also endorsed by numerous op-eds and editorial boards including the New England Journal of Medicine.[19] He received the endorsements of two former Surgeons General: David Satcher and Regina Benjamin. Another former Surgeon General, Richard Carmona, opposed the appointment based on Murthy's age.[20][21]

On December 15, 2014, Murthy's appointment as Surgeon General was approved in a 51–43 Senate vote.[22]

During his tenure, Murthy created initiatives to tackle the country's most urgent public health issues. In releasing the first-ever Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health,[23] Murthy worked with the nation's leading researchers to compile the latest scientific data on addiction and issued a call to action to the nation to recognize addiction as a chronic illness, not a moral failing. He worked with Republican and Democratic elected officials and hundreds of partner organizations to bring attention to this critical issue and to expand access to prevention and treatment. He also released a public service announcement with the cast of television series Mom that doubled the number of people who called into a substance use hotline to ask for help.

Additionally, he launched the "TurnTheTide" campaign and sent a personal letter to millions of health care professionals urging them to join a movement to tackle the opioid epidemic.[24] The unprecedented letter sparked opioid-related initiatives in healthcare settings across the country. Responding to a growing chorus of questions from parents, teachers, and lawmakers, he also released the first Surgeon General’s Report on E-cigarettes Use Among Youth highlighting the health risks of e-cigarette use for youth.[25]

From the beginning of his tenure, Murthy spoke about the importance of creating a culture of prevention in America, one that is grounded in physical activity, nutrition, and emotional well-being. As part of this effort, he issued Step It Up! The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Walking and Walkable Communities.[26] For the one-year anniversary of the Call to Action, he led a two-week public- private partnership with Fitbit called the Step it Up Challenge that engaged over 600,000 people to increase their physical activity with an industry record-setting 60 billion steps. He also partnered with Elmo and Top Chef to inform the country about vaccines and healthy eating, respectively.[27][28] Murthy’s 2016 Surgeon General report on e-cigarette use among youths emphasized the vulnerability of young people to the products and recommended that e-cigarettes be incorporated into existing smoke-free policies to prevent youth from accessing e-cigarettes. The report drew heated response from proponents of e-cigarettes, including R Street and other public policy groups.[29]

Murthy has also worked on the effects of climate change on the country's health[30] and has spoken out against conversion therapy.[31][32]

On April 21, 2017, Murthy was relieved of his duties by the newly elected President Trump. His deputy Surgeon General Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams was named acting Surgeon General.[33] Subsequently, the newly-appointed Surgeon General was Jerome Adams.

Public engagement

Since the second half of 2017, Murthy has appeared on various TV and radio shows talking about the problem of loneliness, and has wrote numerous articles on the subject. Murthy states he was shocked by how often he encountered people suffering from severe loneliness during his medical career, and argued that loneliness in America has become prevalent enough to count as an "epidemic". Murthy sees loneliness as a root cause which plays a substantial role in many other social problems. In April 2020 he published a book about what both society and ordinary people as individuals can do to reduce loneliness in themselves and others, titled Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World.[34][35][36][37]

Personal life

Murthy is married to Dr. Alice Chen, an internal medicine physician who trained at Yale, Cornell, and UCLA, and was the executive director of Doctors for America[38][39] from 2011–2017. Dr. Chen also serves as Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA, and an Assistant Clinical Professor at George Washington University. The couple live in Washington, DC, with their son and daughter.

Awards
Badge of the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services
Public Health Service Outstanding Service Medal
Public Health Service Presidential Unit Citation
Public Health Service Global Response Service Award
Public Health Service Regular Corps Ribbon
Commissioned Corps Training Ribbon

References
  1. Clark, Charles S. (December 23, 2014). "Health service marks banner year without a Surgeon General". Government Executive. National Journal Group. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  2. Straehley, Steve (December 25, 2014). "Surgeon General of the United States: Who is Vivek Murthy?". AllGov.com. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  3. Vivek Murthy (2020). Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. Harper Wave. pp. 281–282. ISBN 978-0062913296.
  4. Wen, Patricia; Bierman, Noah (November 16, 2013). "High praise at home for surgeon general nominee". Boston Globe. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  5. Brown, Nell Porter (September–October 2003). "'Medicine changes you.' Vivek Murthy '98 — Internal Medicine Resident - Boston". Harvard Magazine: 36H. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  6. "Spring 1998 Fellows". Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. 1998. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2014.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  7. "Biography of the Surgeon General Vice Admiral (VADM) Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A." Office of the Surgeon General. SurgeonGeneral.gov. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 2015. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  8. Kenny, Steve (November 14, 2013). "Obama Selects Health Policy Advocate as Surgeon General". The New York Times. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  9. "Obama Picks Vivek Hallegere Murthy for Surgeon General". Huffington Post. Reuters. November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  10. Gil, Gideon (November 14, 2013). "Obama nominating Dr. Vivek Murthy of Harvard and Brigham and Women's as surgeon general". Boston Globe. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  11. "Prevention Advisory Group". SurgeonGeneral.gov. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  12. Larabee, John (October 22, 2013). "Needham's 'TrialNetworks' rolls out platform to help drug developers with clinical trials". Boston Business Journal. American City Business Journals.
  13. "TrialNetworks: Leadership". 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  14. "President Obama announces more key administration posts". Press Office. The White House. November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  15. Barnet, Shannon (December 16, 2014). "Dr. Vivek Murthy confirmed as surgeon general". Becker's Hospital Review. Becker's Healthcare.
  16. O'Keefe, Ed; Dennis, Brady (December 15, 2014). "Surgeon general nominee Vivek Murthy, opposed by gun lobby, confirmed". The Washington Post.
  17. Eilperin, Juliet (March 26, 2014). "Chances for Obama nominees to be confirmed are falling, even with over two years to go". The Washington Post.
  18. "More than 100 national organizations demonstrate strong support for Dr. Vivek Murthy as the next Surgeon General". Trust for America's Health (Press release). November 12, 2014.
  19. Curfman, Gregory D.; Morrissey, Stephen; Malina, Debra; Drazen, Jeffrey M. (May 8, 2014). "Vivek Murthy for Surgeon General". New England Journal of Medicine. 370: 1843–1844. doi:10.1056/NEJMe1403374.
  20. Murphy, Caleb (2015). "The Vivek Murthy precedent". The New Physician. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  21. Carmona, Richard (March 28, 2014). "Vivek Murthy shouldn't be confirmed as surgeon general". Washington Examiner. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  22. Nolen, John (December 15, 2014). "Senate finally confirms Surgeon General nominee". CBS News. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  23. Facing Addiction in America: Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health (PDF). U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (Report). 2016. Archived from the original on November 18, 2016.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  24. Murthy, Vivek. "Surgeon General's call to end the opioid crisis". TurnTheTideRx. Archived from the original on September 1, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2018.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  25. E-cigarette use among youth and young adults (PDF). U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on August 8, 2019.
  26. Assistant Secretary for Health. "Step It Up! The Surgeon General's call to action to promote walking and walkable communities". SurgeonGeneral.gov. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  27. Surgeon General and Elmo team up to talk vaccinations. YouTube (video).
  28. "Surgeon General Vivek Murthy calls for veg twist on Southern comfort dishes on 'Top Chef'". India-West. January 5, 2017.
  29. "U.S. surgeon general e-cigarette report sparks controversy". Reuters. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  30. "Surgeon General Murthy on climate change". C-SPAN. August 2019.
  31. Brydum, Sunnivie (May 10, 2015). "U.S. Surgeon General opposes conversion therapy". The Advocate. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  32. Goldenberg, Suzanne (April 4, 2016). "Climate change threat to public health worse than polio, White House warns". The Guardian. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  33. Eversley, Melanie (April 21, 2017). "Surgeon General dismissed, replaced by Trump administration". USA Today. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  34. Murthy, Vivek (2020). Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. Description & arrow-searchable and scrollable preview. Harper Wave. ISBN 978-0062913296. Retrieved May 26, 2020
  35. Eric Klinenberg (February 9, 2018). "Is Loneliness a Health Epidemic?". New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2020. But is loneliness, as many political officials and pundits are warning, a growing “health epidemic”?”
  36. "All the Lonely Americans?". United States Congress Joint Economic Committee. August 22, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  37. "Loneliness is a serious public-health problem". The Economist. September 1, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  38. "Board of Directors". Doctors for America. 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  39. "Indian-American Vivek Murthy takes over as U.S. Surgeon-General". The Hindu. April 24, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
Military offices
Preceded by
Boris Lushniak
Acting		 Surgeon General of the United States
2014–2017		 Succeeded by
Sylvia Trent-Adams
Acting
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