Jerome Adams

In February 2020, Adams was appointed to the task force for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Adams initially downplayed the risk from COVID-19 by comparing it to the flu, which was criticized by experts. He also implored people not to buy or use face masks in public because he said they were not effective in preventing the general public from catching the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Adams later retracted this recommendation because he said there was new information about the asymptomatic spread of the virus. After Adams made statements about the increased risks facing African Americans from COVID-19, health experts criticized his assertions as misleading and lacking adequate context.

In April 2018, Adams urged Americans who are at risk of overdosing on opioids, as well as their family and friends, to carry an over-the-counter antidote to help combat rising fatalities. In May 2018, Adams responded to an in-flight medical emergency on a flight to Jackson, Mississippi.

In September 2018, Adams began a campaign along with other public health officials to promote seasonal flu vaccinations. The 2017 flu epidemic resulted in the deaths of an estimated 80,000 Americans, the highest number of deaths in at least four decades, according to CDC Director Robert Redfield. Of the 180 children who died, 80 percent were unvaccinated.

On June 29, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Adams as the next Surgeon General of the United States. He was confirmed to the position on August 3, 2017. Upon his confirmation, Adams said that addressing the opioid epidemic along with untreated mental illness would be two of his major priorities. Adams was sworn in as surgeon general on September 5, 2017, and received his commission shortly after.

In October 2014, Adams was appointed Indiana State Health Commissioner. He was originally appointed by Governor Mike Pence and re-appointed by newly elected Governor Eric Holcomb in 2017. In this role, he oversaw the Public Health Protection and Laboratory Services, Health and Human Services, Health Care Quality and Regulatory, and Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Commissions; he also served as Secretary of Indiana State Department of Health's Executive Board, as Chairman of the Indiana State Trauma Care Committee, as President of the Healthy Hoosier Foundation, and as Co-chairman of the Indiana Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative Governing Council. During an HIV epidemic in 2015, Adams initially opposed needle-exchange programs on "moral" grounds, but later changed his position as cases continued to mount.

Adams attended medical school at Indiana University School of Medicine as an Eli Lilly and Company Scholar. He also received a Master of Public Health degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 2000, with a focus on chronic disease prevention. Adams completed his internship in internal medicine (2002–2003) at St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital, and his residency in anesthesiology (2003–2006) at Indiana University. He is board certified in anesthesiology.

Adams is the son of Richard and Edrena Adams of Mechanicsville, Maryland, and grew up on the family farm. He attended Chopticon High School, graduating in 1992, in the top 5% of his class. He then attended the University of Maryland Baltimore County through a full-tuition Meyerhoff Scholarship, a grant dedicated to minority students interested in the sciences. Adams received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and his Bachelor of Arts in Biopsychology. Additionally, Adams studied abroad in the Netherlands and Zimbabwe.

Jerome Michael Adams (born September 22, 1974) is an American anesthesiologist and a vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who currently serves as the 20th Surgeon General of the United States. Prior to becoming Surgeon General, he served as the Indiana State Health Commissioner, from 2014 to 2017. On June 29, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Adams to become Surgeon General of the United States. Adams was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 2017. He assumed office on September 5, 2017.