America needs a surgeon general to help fight Ebola fears
Editor's note: Paul Callan, a CNN legal analyst, is a former New York homicide prosecutor and a senior partner at Callan, Koster, Brady, Brennan & Nagler LLP, which litigates matters involving health care issues. Follow him on Twitter: @PaulCallan. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- Many Americans might feel reassured when Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, says the battle against Ebola in the United States is being waged effectively. His bedside manner is impeccable and his calm confident demeanor inspiring. Yet many might also wonder how the Ebola virus entered the United States and appeared in Dallas under his watch in the first place.
So where is the reassuring guy with the beard and the fancy naval uniform festooned with medals, who warned us for so long about the dangers of smoking? The colorful and trustworthy former surgeon general of the United States, Dr. C. Everett Koop? At a time when many Americans are afraid of the possible spread of a deadly virus, we do not have a full-fledged surgeon general and have not had one since Regina Benjamin resigned in 2013.
We don't notice government officials are missing until a crisis emerges. Now, when Americans perceive what's happening with Ebola as a national health crisis, the seat of the "doctor in charge" remains empty. Yes, we have an acting surgeon general, Rear Adm. Boris Lushniak, but the President has expressed no interest in appointing him to the permanent spot, and without the support of the President, the post doesn't have much power.
Although Sen. John McCain is urging the appointment of an "Ebola czar," it should be the surgeon general in full battle attire, the "nation's doctor," who is stepping up. Who's to blame for this vacancy at a time when Ebola is causing two-thirds of Americans to fear a widespread epidemic?
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/15/opinion/callan-ebola-surgeon-general-frieden/index.html?hpt=hp_t3