Trump taps wellness influencer close to RFK Jr for Surgeon General
US President Donald Trump is tapping Dr Casey Means, a physician-turned-wellness influencer with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, as his nominee for surgeon general after withdrawing his initial pick for the influential health post.
Trump said in a social media post today that Means had "impeccable 'MAHA' credentials" – referring to the Make America Healthy Again slogan – and would work to eradicate chronic disease and improve the health and well-being of Americans.
"Her academic achievements, together with her life's work, are absolutely outstanding," Trump said. "Dr Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History."
In doing so, Trump withdrew former Fox News medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat from consideration for the job, marking at least the second health-related pick from Trump to be pulled from Senate consideration. Nesheiwat had been scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee tomorrow for her confirmation hearing.
Means and her brother, former lobbyist Calley Means, served as key advisers to Kennedy's longshot 2024 presidential bid and helped broker his endorsement of Trump last summer. The pair made appearances with some of Trump's biggest supporters, winning praise from conservative pundit Tucker Carlson and podcaster Joe Rogan. Calley Means was currently a White House adviser who appeared frequently on television to promote restrictions on SNAP benefits, removing fluoride from drinking water and other MAHA agenda items.
Casey Means had no government experience and dropped out of her surgical residency programme, saying she became disillusioned with traditional medicine. She founded a health technology company, Levels, that helped users track blood sugar and other metrics. She also made money from dietary supplements, creams, teas and other products sponsored on her social media accounts.
In interviews and articles, Means and her brother describe a dizzying web of influences to blame for the nation's health problems, including corrupt food conglomerates that have hooked Americans on unhealthy diets, leaving them reliant on daily medications from the pharmaceutical industry to manage obesity, diabetes and other chronic conditions.
Few health experts would dispute that the American diet — full of processed foods — was a contributor to obesity and related problems. But Means went further, linking changes in diet and lifestyle to a raft of conditions including infertility, Alzheimer's, depression and erectile dysfunction.
'Almost every chronic health symptom that Western medicine addresses is the result of our cells being beleaguered by how we've come to live,' Means said in a 2024 book co-written with her brother.
Food experts say it's overly simplistic to declare that all processed foods were harmful, since the designation covered an estimated 60% of US foods, including products as diverse as granola, peanut butter and potato chips.
"They are not all created equal," said Gabby Headrick, a nutrition researcher at George Washington University's school of public health. "It is much more complicated than just pointing the finger at ultra-processed foods as the driver of chronic disease in the United States."
Means has mostly steered clear of Kennedy's controversial and debunked views on vaccines. But on her website, she has called for more investigation into their safety and recommended making it easier for patients to sue drugmakers in the event of vaccine injuries. Since the late 1980s, federal law has shielded those companies from legal liability to encourage development of vaccines without the threat of costly personal injury lawsuits.
She trained as a surgeon at Stanford University but has built an online following by criticising the medical establishment and promoting natural foods and lifestyle changes to reverse obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
If confirmed as surgeon general, Means would be tasked with helping promote Kennedy's sprawling MAHA agenda, which calls for removing thousands of additives and chemicals from US foods, rooting out conflicts of interest at federal agencies and incentivising healthier foods in school lunches and other nutrition programmes.
Nesheiwat, Trump's first pick, is a medical director for an urgent care company in New York and has appeared regularly on Fox News to offer medical expertise and insights. She is a vocal supporter of Trump and shares photos of them together on social media. Nesheiwat is also the sister-in-law of former national security adviser Mike Waltz, who has been nominated to be Trump's ambassador to the United Nations.
But she had recently come under criticism from Laura Loomer, a far-right ally of Trump who was instrumental in ousting several members of the president's National Security Council. Loomer posted on X earlier this week that 'we can't have a pro-Covid vaccine nepo appointee who is currently embroiled in a medical malpractice case and who didn't go to medical school in the US' as the surgeon general.
Independent freelance journalist Anthony Clark reported last month that Nesheiwat earned her medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in St Maarten, despite saying that she has a degree from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine. The White House pulled Nesheiwat's nomination because of doubts about her confirmation prospects, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's reasoning.
'I am looking forward to continuing to support President Trump and working closely with Secretary Kennedy in a senior policy role to Make America Healthy Again! My focus continues to be on improving the health and well-being of all Americans, and that mission hasn't changed,' Nesheiwat wrote on social media today.
The surgeon general, considered the nation's doctor, oversees 6000 US Public Health Service Corps members and can issue advisories that warn of public health threats.
In March, the White House pulled from consideration the nomination of former Florida GOP Representative Dave Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His scepticism on vaccines had raised concerns from key Republican senators, and he withdrew after being told by the White House that he did not have enough support to be confirmed.
The withdrawal was first reported by Bloomberg News.
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RNZ News
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Otago Daily Times
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