American President Donald Trump has announced his intention to nominate Dr. Casey Means, a former physician who has become a prominent wellness advocate, as new U.S. Surgeon General. This decision follows the withdrawal of his previous nominee for the high-profile health position.
In a social media statement on Wednesday, Trump praised Dr. Means for her strong alignment with the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) initiative, citing her commitment to fighting chronic illness and promoting nationwide health improvement.
“Dr. Means has an exceptional academic background and a career dedicated to improving health,” Trump said. “She has the potential to be one of the greatest Surgeon Generals in American 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 Thursday 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 is currently a White House adviser who appears frequently on television to promote restrictions on SNAP benefits, removing fluoride from drinking water and other MAHA agenda items.
Casey Means has no government experience and dropped out of her surgical residency program, saying she became disillusioned with traditional medicine. She founded a health tech company, Levels, that helps users track blood sugar and other metrics. She also makes 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 — is a contributor to obesity and related problems. But Means goes 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 are harmful, since the designation covers an estimated 60% of U.S. foods, including products as diverse as granola, peanut butter and potato chips.
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“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 recommends 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 criticizing 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 U.S. foods, rooting out conflicts of interest at federal agencies and incentivizing healthier foods in school lunches and other nutrition programs.