U.S. Surgeon General Says He Is Resigning

Richard H. Carmona became surgeon general in 2002. (Mark Wilson - Getty Images)

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.