Editing David Satcher

{{short description|American physician and public health administrator}}
{{BLP sources|date=February 2013}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = David Satcher
| image               = David Satcher official photo portrait.jpg
| office              = 16th [[Surgeon General of the United States]]
| president           = [[Bill Clinton]]<br>[[George W. Bush]]
| term_start          = February 13, 1998
| term_end            = February 12, 2002
| predecessor         = [[J. Jarrett Clinton]] (acting)
| successor           = {{nobr|[[Kenneth P. Moritsugu]] (acting)}}
| office1             = 11th [[Assistant Secretary for Health|U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health]]
| president1          = [[Bill Clinton]]
| term_start1         = February 13, 1998
| term_end1           = January 20, 2001
| predecessor1        = [[Philip R. Lee]]
| successor1          = [[Arthur Lawrence (health)|Arthur Lawrence]] (acting)
| office2             = 13th Director of the [[Centers for Disease Control]]
| president2          = [[Bill Clinton]]
| term_start2         = 1993
| term_end2           = February 13, 1998
| predecessor2        = [[William L. Roper]]
| successor2          = [[Jeffrey Koplan]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1941|3|2}}
| birth_place         = [[Anniston, Alabama]], U.S.
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| education           = [[Morehouse College]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br>[[Case Western Reserve University]] ([[Doctor of Medicine|MD]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| allegiance          = {{flag|United States}}
| branch              = [[United States Public Health Service|U.S. Public Health Service]]
| branch_label        = Service
| rank                = [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]]
| serviceyears        = 1998–2002
| serviceyears_label  = Service&nbsp;years
}}
'''David Satcher''' (born March 2, 1941) is an American physician, and public health administrator. He is a four-star [[Admiral (United States)|admiral]] in the [[United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps]] and served as the 11th [[Assistant Secretary for Health]], and the 16th [[Surgeon General of the United States]].

== Biography ==

=== Early years ===
Satcher was born in [[Anniston, Alabama]]. At the age of two, he contracted [[pertussis|whooping cough]]. A Black doctor, Dr. Jackson, came to his parents' farm, and told his parents he didn't expect David to live, but nonetheless spent the day with him and told his parents how to give him the best chance he could.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stolberg |first=Sheryl Gay |date=1997-09-13 |title=Man in the News; 'America's Doctor' David Satcher |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/13/us/man-in-the-news-america-s-doctor-david-satcher.html |access-date=2025-02-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Satcher said that he grew up hearing that story, and that inspired him to be a doctor.<ref>{{Cite interview |interviewer=Tavis Smiley |title=The Tavis Smiley Show |url=https://www.npr.org/2002/03/12/1139730/dr-david-satcher |date=March 12, 2002 |subject=Dr. David Satcher}}</ref> While in college, Satcher was active in the [[Civil Rights Movement]] and was arrested on multiple occasions.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Marlene Cimons |date=July 3, 2020 |title=How Fauci, 5 other health specialists deal with covid-19 risks in their everyday lives |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/how-fauci-5-other-health-specialists-deal-with-covid-19-risks-in-their-everyday-lives/2020/07/02/d4665ed6-b6fb-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html |access-date=July 4, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post |quote=Satcher: I was quite active in the civil rights movement when I was a student at Morehouse. I went to jail at least five times. What bothers me about today's protests is that they aren't as organized as we were.}}</ref>

Satcher graduated from [[Morehouse College]] in [[Atlanta]] in 1963 and was elected to [[Phi Beta Kappa]]. He received his [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]] and a [[PhD]] in cell biology from [[Case Western Reserve University]] in 1970 with election to the [[Alpha Omega Alpha]] honor society.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=David Satcher |url=https://www.k-state.edu/landon/speakers/david-satcher/ |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=www.k-state.edu}}</ref> He completed his residency and fellowship training at the [[Strong Memorial Hospital]], [[University of Rochester]], the [[UCLA School of Medicine]], and [[Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital]]. He is a fellow of the [[American Academy of Family Physicians]], the [[American College of Preventive Medicine]], and the [[American College of Physicians]], and is board certified in preventive medicine.<ref name=":0" /> Satcher pledged [[Omega Psi Phi]] fraternity and is an initiate of the Psi chapter of [[Morehouse College]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Omega – Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. |url=https://oppf.org/about-omega/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Career ===

From December 1977 to August 1979, Satcher served as the Acting Dean of the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School (now the [[Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science]], also known as "Drew"). He had previously served as the Chairman of the Drew's Department of Family Medicine.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=2023-09-14 |title=History {{!}} Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science |url=https://www.cdrewu.edu/about/history |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250114131035/https://www.cdrewu.edu/about/history/ |archive-date=2025-01-14 |access-date=2025-02-12 |language=en-US}}</ref> In May 1978, during his deanship term, a [[Memorandum of understanding|Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)]] was approved by the [[Regents of the University of California|University of California Board of Regents]] to adopt a joint medical education program between the [[David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA|UCLA School of Medicine]] and Drew; the Drew/UCLA M.D. program welcomed its first class of students in 1981.<ref name=":1" />  

Satcher served as professor and Chairman of the Department of Community Medicine and Family Practice at [[Morehouse School of Medicine]] from 1979 to 1982. He is a former faculty member of the [[UCLA School of Medicine]], the [[UCLA School of Public Health]], and the [[Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital|King-Drew Medical Center]] in [[Los Angeles]] (known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center at the time of its closure in 2007), where he developed and chaired the King-Drew Department of Family Medicine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=David |date=2000-05-07 |title=David Satcher |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-may-07-op-27666-story.html |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> He also directed the King-Drew [[Sickle cell|Sickle Cell]] Research Center for six years. Satcher served as President of [[Meharry Medical College]] in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1982 to 1993.<ref name=":0" /> He held the posts of Director of the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] and Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from 1993 to 1998. Satcher was the first Black American to hold the CDC Director position.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Satcher, MD, PhD (First African-American Named to Head the CDC, and First African-American Man Named Surgeon General, HHS) {{!}} Perspectives Of Change |url=https://perspectivesofchange.hms.harvard.edu/node/190 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241205074204/https://perspectivesofchange.hms.harvard.edu/node/190 |archive-date=2024-12-05 |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=perspectivesofchange.hms.harvard.edu |language=en}}</ref>  

==== Chronic Fatigue Syndrome scandal ====
Under Satcher's leadership, the CDC took millions of dollars Congress set aside for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) research and secretly spent the funds in other areas.<ref name=scandal>{{Cite press release |title=Misuse of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Monies by CDC Admitted |date=July 30, 1999 |url=https://www.newswise.com/articles/misuse-of-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-research-monies-by-cdc-admitted |author=Mara Sheldon |work=The Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome Association of America |via=US Newswire}}</ref> The misappropriation of funds continued for three years (from 1995–1998) and the CDC attempted to cover up their actions. The issue only came to light after a CDC employee filed a whistleblower report and a special Inspector General was appointed to investigate the matter.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Joe Stephens |author2=Valerie Strauss |date=August 6, 1999 |title=Retaliation Alleged At CDC |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/08/06/retaliation-alleged-at-cdc/c3ea5fdd-fc7f-4cd1-8dbf-c42e76f75c7f/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> In the words of Martha Katz, Deputy Director for Policy and Legislation at CDC: "Resources intended for CFS were actually used for measles, polio and other disease areas. This was a breach of CDC's solemn trust and is in direct conflict with its core values."<ref name=scandal/>

==== Surgeon General ====
[[Image:VADM David Satcher.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Vice Admiral David Satcher, USPHS]]
Satcher served simultaneously in the positions of Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health from February 1998 through January 2001 at the [[US Department of Health and Human Services]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Satcher {{!}} American Physician & Public Health Advocate |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Satcher |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> As such, he is the first Surgeon General to be appointed as a four-star [[Admiral (United States)|admiral]] in the [[Public Health Service Commissioned Corps|PHSCC]], a departure from the Surgeon General's normal appointment to three-star vice general, to reflect his dual offices.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Honorable Dr. David Satcher's Biography |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/honorable-dr-david-satcher |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=The HistoryMakers |language=en}}</ref>

In his first year as Surgeon General, Satcher released the 1998 Surgeon General's report "Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups." In it, he reported that tobacco use was on the rise among youth in each of the country's major racial and ethnic groups, threatening their long-term health prospects.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Surgeon General's Report Warns of Health Reversals as Minority Teen Smoking Increases |date=April 27, 1998 |publisher=U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |url=https://www.hhs.gov/news/press/1998pres/980427.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923025212/http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/1998pres/980427.html |archive-date=September 23, 2008 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Satcher was appointed by [[Bill Clinton]], and remained Surgeon General until 2002, contemporaneously with the first half of the first term of [[George W. Bush]]'s presidential administration. Eve Slater would later replace him as Assistant Secretary for Health in 2001. Because he no longer held his dual office, Satcher was reverted and downgraded to the grade of [[Vice admiral (United States)|vice admiral]] in the regular corps for the remainder of his term as Surgeon General. In 2001, his office released the report, ''The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior''. The report was hailed by the chairman of the [[American Academy of Family Physicians]] as an overdue paradigm shift—"The only way we're going to change approaches to sexual behavior and sexual activity is through school. In school, not only at the doctor's office."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schemo |first=Diana Jean |date=2001-06-29 |title=Surgeon General's Report Calls for Sex Education Beyond Abstinence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/29/us/surgeon-general-s-report-calls-for-sex-education-beyond-abstinence.html |access-date=2025-02-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> However, conservative political groups denounced the report as being too permissive towards [[homosexuality]] and condom distribution in schools. When Satcher left office, he retired with the rank of vice admiral.

==== Post–Surgeon General ====
Upon his departure from the post, Satcher became a fellow at the [[Kaiser Family Foundation]]. In the fall of 2002, he assumed the post of Director of the National Center for Primary Care at the [[Morehouse School of Medicine]].

On December 20, 2004, Satcher was named interim president at [[Morehouse School of Medicine]] until John E. Maupin, Jr., former president of [[Meharry Medical College]] assumed the current position on February 26, 2006.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} In June 2006, Satcher established the Satcher Health Leadership Institute (SHLI) at Morehouse School of Medicine as a natural extension of his experiences improving public health policy for all Americans and his commitment to eliminating [[health disparities]] for minorities, the poor, and other disadvantaged groups.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Satcher Health Leadership Institute |url=https://satcherinstitute.org/about-us/ |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2013, he co-founded the advocacy group African American Network Against Alzheimer's.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AfricanAmericansAgainstAlzheimer's |url=https://www.usagainstalzheimers.org/networks/african-americans |website=UsAgainstAlzheimer's |language=en}}</ref>

Satcher sat on the boards of directors of [[Johnson & Johnson]] from 2002 to 2012, and [[MetLife]] from 2007 to 2012.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher Elected to Johnson & Johnson Board |publisher=Johnson & Johnson |date=April 17, 2002 |url=http://johnsonandjohnson.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/former-us-surgeon-general-david-satcher-elected-johnson-johnson |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602040420/http://johnsonandjohnson.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/former-us-surgeon-general-david-satcher-elected-johnson-johnson/ |archive-date=June 2, 2023}}</ref><ref>"Johnson & Johnson Annual Report," Johnson & Johnston. 2012. https://www.annualreports.co.uk/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/j/NYSE_JNJ_2012.pdf</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Former surgeon general joins MetLife board |url=https://www.globalreinsurance.com/former-surgeon-general-joins-metlife-board/1323830.article |publisher=Global Reinsurance |date=January 16, 2007 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>"MetLife Annual Report," Metlife, Inc. 2012. https://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/m/NYSE_MET_2012.pdf</ref>

==== Criticisms of health inequality ====
While acknowledging progress, Satcher has criticized health disparities. In a 2005 article published in the journal ''[[Health Affairs]]'', Satcher and his oc-authors asked the question, "What if we had eliminated disparities in health in the last century?" and estimated, based on 2002 data, that "83,570 excess deaths could be prevented each year in the United States if [the] black-white mortality gap could be eliminated."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Satcher |first=David |last2=Fryer |first2=George E. |last3=McCann |first3=Jessica |last4=Troutman |first4=Adewale |last5=Woolf |first5=Steven H. |last6=Rust |first6=George |date=March 2005 |title=What If We Were Equal? A Comparison Of The Black-White Mortality Gap In 1960 And 2000 |url=http://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.24.2.459 |journal=Health Affairs |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=459–464 |doi=10.1377/hlthaff.24.2.459 |issn=0278-2715|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In a 2006 essay for ''[[PLOS Medicine]]'' discussing the ''Health Affairs'' article, Satcher stated that the study's estimates included 24,000 fewer Black deaths from cardiovascular disease and, if infant mortality had been equal across racial and ethnic groups in 2000, 4,700 fewer Black infants would have died in their first year of life.<ref name=":2" /> Without disparities, there would have been 22,000 fewer Black deaths from diabetes and almost 2,000 fewer Black women would have died from breast cancer; 250,000 fewer Black patients would have been infected with HIV/AIDS and 7,000 fewer Black patients would have died from complications due to AIDS in 2000. As many as 2.5 million additional Black individuals, including 650,000 children, would have had health insurance in that year. He called on people to work for solutions at the individual, community, and policy level.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Satcher |first=David |date=October 24, 2006 |title=Ethnic Disparities in Health: The Public's Role in Working for Equality |journal=PLOS Med |volume=3 |issue=10 |pages=e405 |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0030405 |pmc=1621093 |pmid=17076554 |doi-access=free |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Satcher supports a [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]]-for-all style [[single payer health care|single payer health plan]], in which insurance companies would be eliminated and the government would pay health care costs directly to doctors, hospitals and other providers through the tax system.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Physicians Propose Solution to Rising Health Care Costs and Uninsured |date=February 3, 2003 |publisher=Physicians for a National Health Program |url=https://www.pnhp.org/news/2003/february/physicians_propose_s.php}}</ref>

In 1990, while President of Meharry Medical College, Satcher founded a quarterly [[academic journal]] entitled the ''[[Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved]]''. 

== Awards and honors ==
Satcher is the recipient of many honorary degrees and numerous distinguished honors, including:

* the [[Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal]]
* an honorary Doctor of Public Health from [[Dickinson College]] (2016)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foreman |first=Michael |title=2016 Commencement Citations |url=https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20309/commencement/3241/2016_commencement_citations/2 |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=dickinson.edu |language=en}}</ref>
* the [[UC Berkeley School of Public Health]] Public Health Heroes Award (2013)<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 6, 2012 |title=UC Berkeley School of Public Health announces 2013 'public health heroes' |url=http://sph-publications.berkeley.edu/bho/2012/12/uc-berkeley-school-of-public-health-announces-2013-public-health-heroes/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127092813/http://sph-publications.berkeley.edu/bho/2012/12/uc-berkeley-school-of-public-health-announces-2013-public-health-heroes/ |archive-date=January 27, 2013 |access-date=March 8, 2013 |work=Berkeley Health Online}}</ref>
* an honorary Doctor of Science from [[Harvard University]] (2011)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-05-26 |title=Harvard awards 9 honorary degrees |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/05/harvard-to-award-nine-honorary-degrees/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Harvard Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref>
* the Bennie Mays Trailblazer Award (1999)<ref name=":3">"OJJDP National Conference Program," U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 2000.https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/186310NCJRS.pdf</ref>
* the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Award for Humanitarian Contributions to the Health of Humankind from the [[National Foundation for Infectious Diseases]] (1999)<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Satcher, MD, PhD – NFID |url=https://www.nfid.org/person/david-satcher-md-phd/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=nfid.org |language=en-US}}</ref>
* the New York Academy of Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)<ref name=":3" />
* the [[Breslow Award in Public Health]] (1995)<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 22, 2001 |title=U.S. Surgeon General to address Pitt graduates |url=https://www.utimes.pitt.edu/archives/?p=1690 |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=utimes.pitt.edu}}</ref>

He has also won top awards from the [[American Medical Association]], the [[American College of Physicians]], the [[American Academy of Family Physicians]], and [[Ebony magazine]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Satcher, MD, PhD – Kennedy Satcher |url=https://kennedysatcher.org/about/founders/david-satcher-md-phd/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |language=en-US}}</ref> An academic society at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine is named in Satcher's honor, and, in 2009, he delivered the university's Commencement Address.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-28 |title=Satcher Society {{!}} School of Medicine {{!}} School of Medicine {{!}} Case Western Reserve University |url=https://case.edu/medicine/students/student-affairs/about-academic-societies/satcher-society |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=case.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuokulL_T9Y |title=2009 Commencement Convocation Keynote Speech - David Satcher |date=2009-05-28 |last=Case Western Reserve University |access-date=2025-02-13 |via=YouTube}}</ref> The Case Western Reserve School of Medicine also created the David Satcher Clerkship for Underrepresented Minority Students in 1991. The clerkships hosts four to eight minority fourth-year medical students from outside of northeast Ohio at University Hospitals, where they receive exposure to career opportunities in an academic medical center as a part of the residency recruitment process.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-02 |title=David Satcher Clerkship for Underrepresented Minority Students {{!}} School of Medicine {{!}} School of Medicine {{!}} Case Western Reserve University |url=https://case.edu/medicine/students/registrar/visiting-medical-student-program/david-satcher-clerkship-underrepresented-minority-students |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=case.edu |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.msm.edu/about_us/FacultyDirectory/CommunityHealthPreventiveMedicine/DavidSatcher/index.php Morehouse School of Medicine Faculty Profile]
* {{Cite web |last=Office of Public Health and Science |date=January 4, 2007 |title=David Satcher (1998–2002) |url=http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/history/biosatcher.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205160010/http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/history/biosatcher.htm |archive-date=December 5, 2007 |access-date=January 17, 2008 |publisher=U.S. Department of Health and Human Services}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070520215910/http://www.askdoctorv.com/index.php?select=past_shows Satcher Interview on Healthcare as a Civil Rights Issue with Al Sharpton and Dr. V on AskDoctorv.com]
* {{Cite web |title=MedicalMakers: David Satcher |url=http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/david-satcher-41 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511112015/http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/david-satcher-41 |archive-date=May 11, 2013 |access-date=October 6, 2013 |website=[[Julieanna Richardson#The HistoryMakers|The HistoryMakers]] website}}
* {{C-SPAN|15223}}

{{United States Assistant Secretary for Health}}
{{US Surgeons General}}
{{Johnson & Johnson}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satcher, David}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Anniston, Alabama]]
[[Category:Case Western Reserve University alumni]]
[[Category:Morehouse School of Medicine faculty]]
[[Category:Johnson & Johnson people]]
[[Category:Meharry Medical College faculty]]
[[Category:Surgeons general of the United States]]
[[Category:Clinton administration personnel]]
[[Category:African-American physicians]]
[[Category:American Academy of Family Physicians members]]
[[Category:United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps admirals]]
[[Category:Directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]]
[[Category:George W. Bush administration personnel]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal]]
[[Category:Morehouse College alumni]]
[[Category:American biologists]]
[[Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine]]