The Senate confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump\u2019s pick for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, has been postponed after she went into labor, a spokesperson for the Senate committee set to consider her nomination said.<\/p>\n
Means was supposed to appear virtually before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday morning for lawmakers to consider her nomination for the top health role. <\/p>\n
If she assumes the role, Means would become the county\u2019s leading public health spokesperson, with the authority to issue health warnings and advisories.<\/p>\n
Her nomination has stirred controversy: Means, a close ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has voiced skepticism of traditional medicine and promoted wellness products. She also doesn\u2019t hold an active medical license.<\/p>\n
Trump nominated her in May after he withdrew his previous choice<\/a>, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a former Fox News medical contributor.<\/p>\n Trump said he selected Means on Kennedy\u2019s recommendation. She was a campaign adviser during Kennedy\u2019s presidential bid and an architect of his \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d agenda.<\/p>\n In her 2024 book, \u201cGood Energy,\u201d Means describes having quit her medical residency program after she became disillusioned with the medical system\u2019s focus on managing disease rather than curing patients. She got her M.D. at Stanford University and completed nearly all of her five-year surgical residency at Oregon Health and Science University before she dropped out.<\/p>\n \u201cI walked out of the hospital and embarked on a journey to understand the real reasons why people get sick,\u201d she wrote in her book.<\/p>\n Means\u2019 medical license lapsed in January 2024 \u2014 a subject that was expected to come up at the hearing before it was postponed.<\/p>\n Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served during Trump\u2019s first administration, has argued<\/a> that completing a residency and holding a valid medical license are implicit legal requirements for the role, since surgeons general oversee the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps \u2014 a federal public health branch that requires its own officers to have medical licenses. Means did not respond to a request for comment ahead of Thursday’s anticipated hearing. <\/p>\n Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, has said in a statement that Means\u2019 \u201ccredentials, research background, and experience in public life give her the right insights to be the surgeon general who helps make sure America never again becomes the sickest nation on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n Means\u2019 past comments about childhood vaccinations have also garnered attention. In May, she wrote in her newsletter<\/a> that the \u201ctotal burden\u201d of the current vaccine schedule is \u201ccausing health declines in vulnerable children,\u201d and she linked to a Substack post that suggested vaccines cause autism \u2014 a claim that scientific evidence has repeatedly debunked.<\/p>\n Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, is a doctor and proponent of vaccines. During Kennedy\u2019s confirmation process, Cassidy acknowledged his hesitations<\/a> but wound up providing critical support for Kennedy.<\/p>\n Means also told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson last year<\/a> that birth control pills are \u201cprescribed like candy.\u201d In her newsletter, she wrote that hormonal birth control has \u201chorrifying health risks.\u201d (Decades of research have shown it\u2019s safe for most people, and serious complications are rare, though some studies have identified a slightly elevated risk of breast cancer<\/a> in women who have taken birth control pills.)<\/p>\n Those stances, taken together, have generated concern among some public health experts that Means could use her potential pulpit to spread misleading information.<\/p>\n \u201cCasey Means has built her career attacking contraception, vaccines, and women\u2019s autonomy \u2014 all while profiting from misinformation and wellness fads,\u201d Dr. Dara Kass, former regional director at HHS in the Biden administration, said in a statement. \u201cThe Senate should reject this dangerous, unqualified nominee.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Means has gained popularity in wellness circles because of her messages about outsized corporate influence in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Her book argues that people can \u201cimprove and extend their lives\u201d using \u201csimple principles doctors aren\u2019t taught in medical school\u201d \u2014 namely, eating healthier, getting more sleep and physical activity and understanding one\u2019s underlying disease risk. <\/p>\n Many public health experts agree that renewed attention on healthy diets and lifestyles is warranted, though some question the particular solutions Means has supported through her work.<\/p>\n Means co-founded a company<\/a> called Levels, which helps people monitor their blood glucose, and has also sold dietary supplements, teas and other wellness products on social media. An investigation by The Associated Press<\/a> found that Means sometimes failed to disclose that she could profit or benefit from the sales.<\/p>\n