Donald Trump taps wellness influencer close to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for surgeon general
President Donald Trump is tapping Dr. Casey Means, a 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 Wednesday that Means has 'impeccable 'MAHA' credentials' – referring to the ' Make America Healthy Again ' slogan – and that she will 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 for U.S. surgeon general, 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 Thursday for her confirmation hearing.
Nesheiwat 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 has 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 surgeon general, considered the nation's doctor, oversees 6,000 U.S. 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 Rep. Dave Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His skepticism 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.
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The Hindu
32 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Sulphur-cleaning device in coal plants not necessary: Central scientific committee
A high-powered committee of experts, chaired by Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) Ajay Sood, has recommended that India do away with a decade-long policy of mandating equipment, called Flu Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) units, in all coal-fired thermal power plants (TPPs), according to documents perused by The Hindu. These FGD units are required to be retro-fitted in TPPs to cut harmful sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions. While 92% of India's 600 TPPs have not yet installed FGD units, the recommendation would exempt about 80% of them from needing to install such equipment. The limited number of vendors capable of installing such equipment in India, the high installation costs, the potential rise in electricity bills, and disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been some of the reasons historically cited by the Power Ministry, the overseer of India's TPPs, for plants' inability to adhere to previous deadlines. In theory, the costs of non-compliance could run to crores of rupees in fines, though these have not materialised thanks to deadline extensions. 'FGD not necessary' However, this was the first time that multiple arms of the government congregated to deliberate on whether FGDs were required in the first place. Their verdict draws on three reports by the CSIR-NEERI, the National Institute of Advanced Studies, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The lead scientists of these three institutions – each 'supported' by different arms of the government – were at the meeting on April 23, along with representatives from the Office of the PSA, the Union Power Ministry, and the NITI Ayog. They were all largely unanimous that FGD 'was not necessary.' The guiding principles informing the committee's recommendation are that: SO2 levels in ambient air across the country are around 10-20 micrograms/cubic metre, well below India's air quality norms of 80; Indian coal is low in sulphur; SO2 levels in cities near plants with operational FGD units do not differ significantly from those without these units, and all of these were anyway well below permissible levels. The committee opined that concerns about sulphates – a potential by-product when SO2 emissions reach certain atmospheric levels, thus forming particulate matter (PM) – are unfounded. They cited an analysis of 5,792 PM samples across the country, which found 'low elemental sulphur' content (max 8 micrograms/m3 after outlier removal) which was deemed 'insignificant — for considering PM removal as a benefit of FGD.' FGDs may worsen carbon emissions One argument mentioned in the report was that using FGDs might result in additional carbon dioxide emissions and accentuate global warming. 'Installing FGDs in all TPPs by 2030 will increase the Auxiliary Power Consumption (APC) of the TPPs, thereby adding approximately 69 million tons of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere (2025-30) while reducing SO2 emissions by —17 million tons. Adding more long-lived CO2 emissions while removing short-lived SO2 emissions by installing FGDs indiscriminately in all TPPs in India despite the low Sulphur content of Indian coal will enhance global warming.' On the other hand, given that burning coal is India's primary source of electricity, India's annual SO2 emissions has risen from 4,000 kilotonnes in 2010 to 6,000 kilotonnes in 2022. By comparison, Indonesia, a source of imported coal to India has averaged about 2,000 kt in the same period, according to data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Helsinki-based think tank. This is when India's emission standards, at 100 micrograms/m3 (thus requiring FGD), is lower than Indonesia's 800. Environment Ministry 'studying' order Those who attended the meeting included the Secretary, Minister of Power and three other senior officials; Secretary, Environment and Forests and two other officials; four officials of the Office of the PSA; representatives of the NITI Ayog, Central Electricity Authority (the power regulator), Central Pollution Control Board, and academicians. A detailed questionnaire to the Power Ministry was unanswered until press time. Tanmay Kumar, Secretary, Environment Ministry, told The Hindu that his Ministry was 'studying' the order. India has 180 coal-fired thermal power plants, each of them with multiple units. The 600 TPPs, depending on their size, age, proximity to densely populous cities, and background pollution levels, were given different timelines by the Environment Ministry to comply with the FGD installation requirements. Deadlines have been shifted three times, with the most recent extension coming on Dec 31, 2024. Major population centres The committee, according to the minutes of the meeting seen by The Hindu, will 'recommend' to the Power and Environment Ministers that only power plants located within a 10-km radius of the National Capital Region and other cities with a million-plus population be required to install FGDs. These are called Category A plants. There are 66 such plants, and only 14 of them have installed FGDs. Currently, all these plants are required to comply by 2027. Plants within a 10-km radius of 'Critically Polluted Cities' or 'Non Attainment Cities', called Category B plants, would be eligible for exemption on a 'case by case' basis, on a joint review by the Central Electricity Authority or Central Pollution Control Board. There are 72 such plants, with only four having installed FGD. These plants currently have a deadline of 2028. The remaining 462 plants all come under Category C, of which 32 have installed FGDs. These plants have been given a 2029 deadline, but the committee has now recommended that Category C plants be exempted completely, along with some units in Categories A and B which were set up at least 20 years ago. 'Will not affect public health' 'The key common point in these studies is that fitment of FGDs in all TPPs in India is not necessary to comply with the NAAQ (National Ambient Air Quality) standards whose compliance is essential to safeguard public health. While all TPPs must comply with the December 2015 stack emission standards for PM pollution and freshwater consumption, the SO2 stack emission standards can be relaxed to ensure that they are in conformance with the NAAQ standards which are notified by CPCB, keeping in mind the human health and other aspects. This way, TPPs may be able to comply with these standards without fitting FGDs. Since the existing NAAQ standards (for ambient SO2) must be complied with, this change will not affect human health in India,' the committee concludes. Currently, State governments or affiliated companies run a majority of the Category A TPPs, whereas private authorities hold the highest share in Categories B and C.
Time of India
33 minutes ago
- Time of India
Season's 1st Covid death in state is 43-yr-old with comorbidities
1 2 Kolkata: Bengal saw its first Covid-related death this year, after a 43-year-old woman passed away at a south Kolkata hospital on Tuesday. The deceased had heart and kidney ailments, said sources. This was among the five Covid deaths reported across the country on Tuesday. While the current spike is causing mostly mild infections, individuals with comorbidities need to remain cautious as they were vulnerable to severe infections, said health experts. The state reported 41 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total active caseload to 372, most of which are concentrated in Kolkata. At present, almost all major hospitals across the city have patients admitted for Covid treatment. The 43-year-old woman was admitted to CMRI Hospital on May 28 with complaints of a two-week-long bout of fever and respiratory distress. Suspected of an infection, her respiratory samples were sent for a viral panel test and she tested positive for Covid-19. While she apparently had no existing health conditions, tests revealed her heart ejection fraction was as low as 20%. Her urine output kept declining, due to which she was given dialysis. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Initially under BiPAP support, doctors had to put her on ventilation as she kept sinking. "On finding sepsis indications, our medical team put up their best. But the decline in her condition, including the organ damage, was very swift. Some adjuvant health conditions were probably the cause of such a fast decline," said the unit medical head of the hospital. The death report cites acute coronary syndrome, acute kidney injury and septic shock in a case of Covid-19. Of the eight Covid-19 positive patients admitted at the hospital, the 43-year-old was the only one under intensive care. Reacting to this, Peerless Hospital chief microbiologist Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhuri said: "Whenever there is an outbreak of any infection like influenza, adenovirus, or Covid-19, there would be a few mortalities. That is the reason why the vulnerable need to remain protected." Peerless's lab detected three positive cases on Tuesday, including that of a child, who is admitted at the hospital. Critical care and ECMO specialist Arpan Chakraborty of Apollo Multispecialty Hospital said that a section of patients with comorbidities was likely to need intensive care if they tested positive for Covid. Among the seven Covid positive patients admitted at the hospital was an 80-year-old man who had heart issues. "Timely detection and close monitoring in hospital are required for patients," said infectious diseases specialist Sayan Chakraborty of Manipal Hospital Dhakuria. "We have three Covid patients, including one in the ICU, while we discharged two recently," said Doli Biswas, chief nursing officer of Fortis Hospital Anandapur. RN Tagore Hospital has two Covid-19 positive patients.
Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
‘Large-scale fines will be imposed': Trump's fierce warning to California over transgender athlete wins - The Economic Times Video
US President Donald Trump vows hefty fines on California after a transgender athlete wins two high school track championships, sparking national controversy. Trump threatened 'large scale' fines following the transgender teen's participation in a California state track final. He previously warned Gov. Gavin Newsom that federal funding could be withheld if the state ignored his executive order signed on his first day in office. The US Department of Justice has warned California schools they may face legal action for allowing transgender athletes to compete, citing violations of the Equal Protection Clause. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon called the policy unconstitutional, arguing it disadvantages female athletes. This follows Trump's executive order to cut federal funding to schools that allow trans girls to compete in women's sports, reaffirming his administration's stance to protect women's athletics.
