The new surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, is making headlines in appearances with Elmo and Joe Biden. He has high hopes of revolutionizing American public health — but might be doomed by the powerlessness of his office.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Two blocks south of the U.S. Capitol sits the office of the world's least frightening general, the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy.
He's having a good week, appearing both with Sesame Street's Elmo in a public service ad touting vaccinations, and with Vice President Joe Biden, who on Wednesday ceremonially confirmed Murthy in his new post.
Murthy wants to change the world. "We're trying to build a movement around public health," he told BuzzFeed News from his office in the Hubert Humphrey Building, the concrete monstrosity that houses the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General, strangely enough, is technically an admiral, and wore a Navy blue uniform. "The fundamental job of this office," he said, "is to look out for the health of this country."
Arrayed against Murthy's aspirations, however, is the utter powerlessness of his office. Not so long ago, the Surgeon General loomed large in every outbreak, from influenza to AIDS. But now the "nation's top doctor" is just another mortality statistic in Washington D.C., the victim of lost influence and relevance.
"Our latest Surgeon General was just confirmed after nearly two years without one, which says something about the importance of the job," Howard Markel, a medical historian at of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, told BuzzFeed News.
The bully pulpit that the Surgeon General once monopolized to proclaim health messages has been overtaken by a smorgasbord of medical voices catering to the public, Markel said. The Surgeon General now faces towering competition from pundits, celebrities, and even other federal officials.
But Murthy's not ready to bow out. He wants to move his $216,550 position into the 21st century by tweeting, Tumblring, and even urging Elmo to get his shots. "I really enjoyed working with Elmo," Murthy said with the calm voice of a physician. "We were working together to get out an important message."
And he's been taking that message on the road. From December to March, Murthy traveled across the country, from Miami to Cincinnati to Seattle, talking to doctors and patients about everything from exercise to Ebola.
