"Today, Murthy, the leader of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, was asked to resign from his duties as Surgeon General after assisting in a smooth transition into the new Trump administration," the US Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement yesterday.
"Murthy has been relieved of his duties as Surgeon General and will continue to serve as a member of the Commissioned Corps," the statement continued.
Murthy, 39, the 19th Surgeon General and the first Indian American to hold this position said in a Facebook Post that it was an honour and privilege to work for this prestigious position.
Murthy has been replaced by Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent- Adams, who is the current Deputy Surgeon General.
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"(Health and Human Services) Secretary (Tom) Price thanks him for his dedicated service to the nation. Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, who is the current Deputy Surgeon General, will serve as the acting Surgeon General and assume leadership of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps," the official statement said.
"As my colleague Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams takes over as Acting Surgeon General, know that our nation is in capable and compassionate hands. Thank you, America, for the privilege of a lifetime. I have been truly humbled and honoured to serve as your Surgeon General. I look forward to working alongside you in new ways in the years to come," he wrote on his Facebook Post.
"The role of the Surgeon General is traditionally to share wisdom with others, but it was I who learned so much by listening to your stories in town halls and living rooms. In a remote fishing village in Alaska, a church in Alabama, an American Indian reservation in Oklahoma, a school in Virginia, and in so many other places, I watched the grit and grace with which our fellow Americans live their lives," he said.
Murthy's parents are originally from Karnataka, India. He was born in Huddersfield, England and the family relocated to Miami, Florida when he was three years old.
He received an MD from the Yale School of Medicine and an MBA in Health Care Management from the Yale School of Management.
He is currently a practicing physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, as well as the Hospitalist Attending Physician and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School.