Senate confirms Murthy as surgeon general

The Senate yesterday voted 57-43 to confirm Vivek Murthy, M.D., to serve as United States surgeon general for a second time. AHA expressed support for the Biden nominee in recent letters to the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees, citing his “strong public health expertise, including helping to lead the response to Ebola, Zika and the opioid crisis.” Before serving as surgeon general from 2014 to 2017, Murthy was a hospitalist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and faculty member at Harvard Medical School.