Radiologist surgeon general nominee advances to full Senate
Radiologist Nicole Saphier’s nomination to serve as the next U.S. surgeon general has advanced to the full Senate for further consideration.
The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Wednesday voted 12-11 along party lines to favorably report the nominations of five individuals. They included Timothy Westlake, MD, nominated as assistant secretary of mental health and substance abuse at HHS; Mary Lazare, assistant secretary of aging, HHS; and Loren Sweatt and Douglas Ralph, both nominated as members of the National Mediation Board.
Saphier, MD, is a breast imaging specialist with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, author and former Fox News contributor, picked by the president in April. If confirmed, she would serve as the “nation’s doctor,” acting as chief health educator and spokeswoman for the U.S. and the primary authority on public health issues.
“Dr. Saphier, Dr. Westlake, Ms. Lazare, Ms. Sweatt, and Mr. Ralph have the qualifications and the integrity necessary to do the jobs they are nominated for,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD, R-La., chairman of the HELP Committee, said in a statement Sept. 30.
The radiologist previously faced confirmation hearings earlier in September. During the session, lawmakers grilled the physician about her childhood vaccines views and whether she believes they cause autism. Saphier, a mother of three, emphasized that she does not think these injections harm children, and she supports widespread inoculations for clinical concerns such as hep B.
“In the United States, the most tried and true way to prevent hepatitis B infection and effectively lower hepatitis B-associated illness is universal birth dosing,” she told lawmakers.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was among those voting against her nomination on Wednesday. In comments made ahead of the vote, he questioned previous statements Saphier had made about childhood vaccines, sowing potential doubt when the “data science has been clear.”
"We need a surgeon general who will tell the truth about vaccines, not someone who misleads the public," Sanders said, according to the Associated Press.
This mark’s President Donald Trump’s third nominee for surgeon general in his current term after the first two failed to secure confirmation. Politico notes that other members of the HELP committee have expressed optimism about the radiologist’s chances of securing the job, after previously stating skepticism around the other nominees. Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, who served as surgeon general during President Trump’s first term, told NPR he believes the radiologist will eventually secure confirmation.
You can read more about Saphier’s background from Radiology Business here. Some have expressed opposition to her nomination, worried she’s not enough in line with the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, backed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. Others have criticized her lack of experience in public health, the Scientific American reports.
Cassidy and colleagues did not indicate when the full Senate would consider Saphier’s nomination, only indicating it would occur “at a later date.”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.