Trump's Surgeon General Must Continue the Fight Against Loneliness

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The office of the U.S. Surgeon General is now vacant. 

Dr. Vivek Murthy - who served under Presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden - has left his post as Surgeon General. 

His time there, however, has been hugely consequential. 

Murthy's leadership and passion for the job will be hard to match. 

Through his and his team's research - especially the now famous 2023 report declaring a national loneliness epidemic - Murthy has reminded the American people of the importance of social connection.

Many of you will remember this line from the aforementioned report: "The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day..." To my surprise, even lay people, who are largely disconnected from politics, recall something about this.

This report unleashed an avalanche of articles on the subject of loneliness and social isolation. While I started writing about communitarianism and civil society in 2022, Murthy's report the following year spurred me into action; I became almost obsessive about the problem, consuming as much literature about the harrowing effects of loneliness on individuals and communities as I could.

With Murthy now gone, it is imperative that his successor continues to sound the alarms on the loneliness epidemic.  

Last year, then President-elect Trump nominated Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a Fox News contributor and medical director at CityMD, to serve as the new U.S. Surgeon General. 

Dr. Janette Nesheiwat

I don't know much about Nesheiwat, but after conducting some light research, I am somewhat encouraged. It appears that she was rather outspoken about the adverse effects of lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. It looks, too, as though she has been focused on the nation's mental health epidemic. 

Here is Dr. Marc Seigel discussing Nesheiwat's nomination on Laura Ingraham's show in November of last year. 

One thing that they both said about Nesheiwat is that she, like Murthy, has the unique ability to communicate complex problems in layman's terms. "She truly is an amazing communicator," Ingraham remarked, "making complex issues understandable without sounding like she's lecturing us."

Nesheiwat must continue in Murthy's footsteps and champion the cause of social connection. 

Before I sign off, I highly recommend reading Murthy's reflection on his time as Surgeon General, My Parting Prescription for America, here. 

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