Obama appointed Indian-American surgeon general asked to step down

Washington April 22 (IANS) Indian-American Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy an Obama administration holdover was asked to resign by the Trump administration a media report said.

Murthy was replaced on Friday by his deputy Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams one of the first nurses to serve as Surgeon General New york Times reported. Trent-Adams would for now be in an acting role.

As of Friday evening she had already replaced Murthy on the surgeon general s Twitter account and her portrait had replaced his on the agency s Facebook page.

One of the first comments on that post asked Where is doctor Murthy?

Alleigh Marre a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Murthy s resignation in an emailed statement on Friday saying he was asked to step down after assisting in a smooth transition into the new (Donald) Trump administration.

Marre said Murthy will continue to serve as a member of the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service the New York Times report said.

Admiral Trent-Adams might be the first surgeon general who is not a doctor. She is not the first nurse though.

Richard Carmona who served under President George W. Bush was a nurse and a physician and he sometimes referred to himself as the first nurse to serve as surgeon general.

It was not immediately clear why Murthy was relieved from duty.

There is a long history of surgeons general creating unwanted controversy for their political bosses; among the only ways that the government s top medics usually gain attention is when they leave office under a cloud the NYT report added.

--IANS
in/rn