Trump administration taps wellness influencer for surgeon general
United States President Donald Trump has selected Doctor Casey Means, a wellness influencer with close ties to Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, as his nominee for surgeon general after withdrawing his previous nominee.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said that Means would work closely with RFK Jr, who is his Health and Human Services secretary.
“Her academic achievements, together with her life’s work, are absolutely outstanding,” the post states. “Dr Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History.”
Means, who was an adviser on RFK Jr’s 2024 presidential run, is currently serving as an advisor to the White House, and makes frequent appearances on TV and podcasts defending the administration’s moves related to health and nutrition policy.
She has no government experience and dropped out of her surgical residency programme, stating that she had become disillusioned with traditional medicine.
She founded a company named Levels that helps users track blood pressure and other health metrics. She also makes money from sponsoring various dietary supplements and other products that she says have health benefits on her social media account.
Few health experts would dispute that the American diet, full of processed foods, is a contributor to obesity and related problems. But Means goes further, linking changes in diet and lifestyle to a host of conditions including infertility, Alzheimer’s, depression and erectile dysfunction.
Members of the administration, such as RFK Jr, have attacked measures such as mandatory vaccinations and the use of fluoride in drinking water, both practices that scientists and health officials say have been highly successful public health measures.
Attacks on such measures and traditional sources of scientific authority showed limited, but energising, appeal among a group of core supporters during the 2024 campaign, tapping into mistrust of medical expertise as well as common disillusionment with the US healthcare and food production industries.
Critics say that appeals from figures like Trump and his allies tap into legitimate sources of concern while leaving their root causes largely unaddressed and simultaneously rolling back environmental and health protections.
The announcement comes after Trump withdrew his initial pick for the key health post, a medical contributor on Fox News named Janette Nesheiwat, who had been scheduled for a confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday.
Nesheiwat had come under fire from far-right allies of the administration over her support for the COVID-19 vaccine and allegations that she may have misrepresented her academic and medical school history.
Al Jazeera
