Views
Opinion column
by Murrel Bland
There are stories that need to be told to the public concerning medicine.
That was the message that Dr. Sanjay Gupta delivered Thursday, April 21. Dr. Gupta is the chief medical correspondent for Cable News Network. He received the William Allen White Foundation National Citation presented at the annual meeting of the William Allen White Foundation trustees at the University of Kansas at Lawrence. More than 300 persons, including students and faculty, packed into the ballroom of the Kansas Union to hear Dr. Gupta speak.
Dr. Gupta told of how he was embedded with a group of U.S. Navy medical doctors, called the “devil docs,” who operated on wounded soldiers who were in Baghdad, Iraq. Dr. Gupta, who is also a practicing neurosurgeon, was suddenly pressed into service. A young U.S. Marine officer had removed his helmet and was struck in the head with a bullet.
Dr. Gupta said he was hard-pressed for equipment. He had to use a Black and Decker drill to cut through the man’s bone. The drill, which was sterilized, was the same one used to erect the tent where the doctors operated. Sometime after the successful operation, Dr. Gupta received a telephone call that led to a reunion with the young officer in San Diego.
Dr. Gupta was also embedded with members of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan; he told the story of life-saving missions. He also told of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. He was also on the shortlist as a candidate for U.S. Surgeon General during the Obama administration.
Dr. Gupta, who is the son of parents who immigrated to the United States from India, is married to Rebecca Olson, a family law attorney. They are the parents of three teenage daughters and live in Atlanta.
Although he said he is very committed to the practice of medicine and to quality journalism, he said his first commitment is to his family.
Right after Dr. Gupta completed his address of about 20 minutes, he received a T-shirt commemorating the KU basketball’s national championship. The audience acknowledged that gift with a rousing approval.
Dr. Gupta left Lawrence and was headed to Ukraine.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is a trustee of the William Allen White Foundation.