Sanjay Gupta says he is no longer in the running to be the nation's next surgeon general, CNN reported today, as President Obama brought health care to center stage.

CNN cited his desire to continue working instead as a neurosurgeon and CNN medical analyst. His wife is pregnant with their third child.

It has been two months since ABC News first learned that Obama was paging CNN journalist Dr. Sanjay Gupta to become the nation's next surgeon general.

Since early January, several people have speculated about what was taking the celebrity doctor so long to answer the call.

And despite some concerns about Gupta's qualifications, some said the reason the surgeon general selection had not been formally announced since Gupta's name leaked on Jan. 6 may not have had anything to do with Gupta himself.

Until Obama announced Kathleen Sebelius as his pick for Secretary of Health and Human Serivces earlier this week, the spot for the administration's top health official was also vacant. Two weeks ago, several medical experts said that given the Feb. 3 withdrawal of TOM DASCHLE, Obama's initial pick for the HHS secretary's post, Obama's team may have been reassessing the balance.