Retiring the Nation’s Doctor

Congress should dissolve the office of the surgeon general

Letter to The WSJ. 

"I watched the surgeon general confirmation hearings and couldn’t help but wonder why, in the 21st century, we still rely on an 18th-century relic to play the nation’s doctor (“A Vaccine Skeptic for Surgeon General,” Review & Outlook, Feb. 26).

The office of surgeon general has drifted far from its original role as an apolitical supervisor of medical personnel. Successive administrations have transformed it into a political megaphone opining on gun control, social media, housing and other contentious issues only tangentially related to public health.

Meanwhile, the surgeon general oversees the more than 6,000-member Public Health Service Commissioned Corps—a uniformed service whose deployment is slower and more costly than civilian alternatives. A 2010 Health and Human Services report found corps officers cost roughly 15% more than comparable civilian employees.

Congress should dissolve the office of the surgeon general and the Commissioned Corps, transfer legitimate public health functions elsewhere and end the politicization of public health.

Jeffrey A. Singer, M.D.

Senior fellow, Cato Institute"