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Tue Aug 1 18:21:09 BST 2006

He comes from a trauma surgeon background

August 1, 2006
Washington Post

U.S. Surgeon General Says He Is  Resigning

U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona let it  be known yesterday that he is 
stepping down, saying in a letter that he would  judge himself successful if 
he had persuaded one student to make good health  choices or one mother to 
stop smoking.

Carmona's term expired over the weekend with no  announcement from the 
Department of Health and Human Services. But a letter that  Carmona wrote to his 
fellow officers of the U.S. Public Health Service began to  circulate yesterday 
on Capitol Hill.

His departure comes little more than a month  after Carmona issued a report 
highlighting the health dangers of secondhand  smoke, a hallmark of his tenure 
as the nation's 17th surgeon  general.

Carmona cited several accomplishments in the  letter, including educating 
Americans about the importance of preparing for  natural and other disasters. He 
also noted his focus on trying to eliminate  health disparities among parts of 
the population on such diseases as AIDS and  diabetes.

Carmona wrote that he was returning to civilian  life but provided no 
specifics. When President Bush chose him for the post in  March 2002, Carmona was a 
trauma surgeon in Arizona.

As surgeon general, Carmona had a lower public  profile than some of his 
immediate predecessors, such as C. Everett Koop, who  served two terms, M. 
Joycelyn Elders, who served about half a term, and, most  recently, David Satcher.

"I think he was in a tough time," said Georges  C. Benjamin, executive 
director of the American Public Health Association. "Here  you have a guy who had 
significant experiences in preparedness and trauma and  emergency care, and I 
wish we had used him more effectively in that  role."

Christina Pearson, an HHS spokeswoman, referred  questions about Carmona's 
potential successor to the White House. But Emily  Lawrimore, a White House 
spokeswoman, said it would not comment on personnel  matters.

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