Who is Dr. Casey Means, Trump's new pick for surgeon general?
President Trump has a new pick for surgeon general: Dr. Casey Means, a holistic medicine doctor, author and metabolic health influencer from Los Angeles who, according to Trump, will help Make America Healthy Again.
'Casey has impeccable 'MAHA' credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans,' Trump wrote in a statement on his social media site Truth Social.
Means, 37, was not Trump's initial choice for the role: He first selected Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a Fox news contributor and Mike Waltz's sister-in-law, to oversee the U.S. public health system. However, for unspecified reasons, Trump withdrew Nesheiwat's name on Wednesday — one day before her planned Senate confirmation hearing — and replaced her with Means. Means will also need to have her nomination confirmed by the Senate.
Means attended Stanford Medical School, but she later dropped out of surgical residency at Oregon Health and Science University and went into functional medicine. She does not have an active medical license.
She is the founder of Levels Health, a metabolic health app that allows users to track their metabolic data through a continuous glucose monitoring system.
She's also an influencer within the growing 'MAHA' space and an advocate for controversial Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, to whom her brother, entrepreneur Calley Means, is now an adviser.
Means has more than 766,000 followers on Instagram, her own dietary-focused newsletter and appeared on podcasts such as Huberman Lab and The Joe Rogan Experience, where she has discussed topics such as microplastics, the impact of big pharmaceuticals and the poor state of the food industry. Her interview with Tucker Carlson, about how Big Pharma is keeping us sick, has been watched more than 3.7 million times.
On her website, Means says that she saw how 'broken and exploitative' the health care system is during her training as a surgeon and that she left the medical field in order to 'focus on how to keep people out of the operating room.'
'I am passionate about working towards a healthier and happier planet by empowering people to understand their health and the limitless potential within them,' she wrote.
In 2024, Means and her brother Calley released the book Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health, which argues that many chronic health conditions, including depression and heart disease, stem from metabolic dysfunction.
Means's path to being nominated for surgeon general seems to stem from her ties to Kennedy, who she supported as a third-party candidate before he joined forces with Trump and dropped out of the race. Stat News reports that Means and her brother were shouted out by RFK Jr. by name after he joined Trump's transition team.
Means shares many of RFK Jr.'s views: a concern over the safety and health of our food supply, distrust of pharmaceutical companies and a belief that government health agencies are compromised. And she has also expressed skepticism about vaccines: In an October 2024 newsletter, she wrote, 'there is growing evidence that the total burden of the current extreme and growing vaccine schedule is causing health declines in vulnerable children.'
Means has a lot of support from people within the MAHA community who view her as a champion of their agenda. Vani Hara, aka the influencer Food Babe, who rails against processed food, reposted Trump's announcement on her Instagram Story, calling it the 'best news for this country.' Dozens of others also praised the announcement, which Means reposted on her own Instagram.
Yet not everyone is thrilled about Trump's nomination of Means for surgeon general. Some have expressed concern that Means promotes pseudoscience and has no clinical experience.
'Casey Means shows that you too can drop out of medical specialty training, go into wellness grifting, write a book, do some podcasts and YOU TOO could one day be Surgeon General! It's the American Dream,' infectious disease physician Dr. Neil Stone wrote on X.
Atlantic writer Elaine Godfrey noted on X, 'The main criticism of Casey Means from dietitians, and others with the kind of expertise that she herself does not have, is that she and other influencers ignore known problem areas in health (fiber, exercise, social determinants) to focus on minor details—and profit from it.'
Immunologist Andrea Love, meanwhile, called Means 'a grifter who dropped out of ENT residency & start a company selling glucose monitors & health all to non-diabetics. She doesn't know basic science, yet claims she's a metabolism expert. Incomplete ENT residency ≠ expert. Of course she's up for Surgeon General.'
In the wake of the criticism, Kennedy showed support for Means in a lengthy post on X, writing, in part, 'The absurd attacks on Casey Means reveal just how far off course our healthcare conversations have veered, and how badly entrenched interests—including Big Food and its industry-funded social media gurus — are terrified of change.'
He stated that Means has 'excelled' in all endeavors, noting her success at Stanford and claiming the attacks on her are the reason she chose to leave the medical system in the first place.
'Casey will help me ensure American children will be less medicated and better fed — and significantly healthier — during the next four years,' he shared. 'She will be the best Surgeon General in American history.'
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