Dr. Vivek Murthy has been nominated as Surgeon General of the United States

November 15, 2013; Washington DC: US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) congratulates Dr. Vivek Murthy on his nomination as surgeon general of the United States. The nomination, if confirmed will make Murthy the country’s 19th surgeon general for an office that was established in 1871. A graduate of Yale University, where Murthy earned a medical degree and an MBA, he will be the youngest surgeon general in US history. He will also be the first surgeon general of Indian origin, recognizing the immense contribution of the Indian-American community to health care in the United States. Murthy co-founded VISIONS Worldwide in 1995, a non-profit organization focused on HIV/AIDS education in India and the United States, where he served as President from 1995 to 2000 and Chairman of the Board from 2000 to 2003.
USINPAC Chairman, Sanjay Puri, congratulated Dr. Vivek Murthy and said, “It is a great honor for the Indian-American community and one of the highest appointments for an Indian-American. As a leader in the medical community, he is extremely well qualified to take on the role, and I am looking forward to his confirmation. I would also like to congratulate President Obama for reaching out to the best and brightest to serve in his administration.”

President Barack Obama plans to nominate Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, the Indian-American head of a doctors group that promotes his signature healthcare law to be the next US surgeon general.

Murthy is a hospitalist at the Brigham and is co-founder and president of Doctors for America, a Washington, DC-based group of 16,000 physicians and medical students that advocates for access to affordable, high quality health care.

If confirmed by the Senate, Murthy will replace Regina Benjamin, who was appointed by Obama in 2009 and left her post last summer. The job focuses heavily on public health issues.

Murthy was appointed to the President’s Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health in 2011. The prevention group was created as part of the Affordable Care Act health reform law.

His group, Doctors for America, was originally called Doctors for Obama and helped to campaign for Obama’s election.

Murthy co-founded VISIONS Worldwide in 1995, a non-profit organization focused on HIV/AIDS education in India and the United States, where he served as President from 1995 to 2000 and Chairman of the Board from 2000 to 2003.

Murthy received a BA from Harvard University, an MBA from Yale School of Management, and an MD from Yale School of Medicine.

“I am confident that these outstanding individuals will greatly serve the American people in their new roles and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” Obama said in announcing Murthy’s appointment along with three other key posts.

The announcement came shortly after Obama acknowledging that his administration “fumbled” in the troubled rollout of his healthcare law offered a fix that would allow insurers to keep for another year people on plans that were to be cancelled for not meeting minimum standards under the new law.

In the midst of mounting criticism of the troubled healthcare website, former President Bill Clinton had Tuesday suggested that Obama should make sure Americans can retain their current health insurance plans, even if it means revamping the Affordable Care Act.

“I personally believe, even if it takes a change to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they’ve got,” Clinton told OZY, a news website.

Source: Business Standard

Indian-Americans have affirmed their growing importance in US politics with at least five members of the community emerging victorious in the recently concluded state legislatures and local body polls.

The most significant victories came in the state of New Jersey, where rising Indian-American political star Raj Mukherji became one of the youngest member of State Assembly and will join fellow Democrat and veteran leader Upendra Chivukula.

Raj, a former Jersey City Deputy Mayor, won the State Assembly elections to New Jersey’s 33rd Legislative District.

Mukherji, 29, a first-time Democratic nominee for the 33rd Legislative District, had won the primary election in June by a 36-point margin.

Nellore-born Chivukula has been a member of the New Jersey assembly since 2002.

Chivukula, 63, was the first South-Asian American in the 120-member state legislature and the highest ranking South-Asian elected to office in New Jersey.

At more than four per cent, South Asians form the largest component of the state’s Asian-American group, which accounts for an estimated nine per cent of New Jersey’s nearly nine million population.

Meanwhile, in the state of New Hampshire, 52-year-old Democrat Latha Mangipudi defeated her rival Peter Silva in a special state representative election by a huge 18-point margin.

Democrat Sapana Shah won a berth in the Edison Municipal Council of New Jersey. The 36-year-old lawyer has been working with the Edison Board of Education since 2011.

Elsewhere, Steve Rao retained his seat on the Morrisville City Council in North Carolina despite a huge anti-incumbency wave to defeat Pete Martin. Rao is now the only remaining Indian-American in the Council and was the only incumbent to return to office.

Source: The Economic Times

An Indian-origin doctor has been selected for prestigious “Outstanding American by Choice” award for his valuable contribution to US heatlh sector.

Eminent transplant surgeon and philanthropist, Rahul Jindal, will be honoured by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on November 13.

The initiative recognises naturalised citizens who have made significant contributions to both their community and their adopted country.

Jindal, who recently received the Leadership Award by the International Leadership Foundation was recently appointed as Commissioner on Service and Volunteerism.

Currently a Staff Transplant Surgeon at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Professor of Surgery at Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Jindal is also a Clinical Professor at George Washington University.

He obtained his MD from BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad and then studied in Britain where he and earned an FRCS from the Royal College of Edinburgh.

Known for his philanthropy and community services, Jindal is the Director of the National Blood and Bone marrow Drive Campaign which was sponsored by about 600 Hindu temples throughout North America.

Source: Business Standard