CNN's Gupta considered for surgeon general

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and CNN's chief medical reporter, tops U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's list for surgeon general, CNN confirmed.

Gupta was approached by Obama's transition team and discussed the job with Obama late last year, CNN confirmed to The New York Times.

Gupta, 39, indicated he likely would decide about whether to accept the nomination within a few days.

If he accepts and is approved, he would be taking over a post that has been nudged aside by the Bush administration, which used the officials from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and the National Institutes of Health as the government's public health advocates, the Times said.

Gerard M. Farrell, executive director of the Commissioned Officers Association of the Public Health Service, said he and others had hoped Obama would pick someone who was a commissioned health officer.

"The best way to find a good leader and to depoliticize the office is to do what the military does: You pick leaders from within the service," Farrell said.

Other public health advocates said Gupta could be a good, if unusual, choice, the Times reported.

"The surgeon general's role has been to be the country's doctor, and having someone who is immediately recognizable to many people can be very helpful," said Linda C. Degutis, immediate past president of the American Public Health Association.

Besides his work on CNN, Gupta appears on the "CBS Evening News" and writes columns for Time magazine.