The United States surgeon general is tasked with representing the nation’s medical community and informing the general public on potential risks to their health. Warning labels on tobacco products, alcohol, and potentially even social media all originate from the surgeon general’s office.
Surgeon generals often first serve as high-ranking doctors within the United States military, but President Donald Trump is continuing to expand his roster of unconventional hires by tapping a woo-woo wellness influencer to fill the position.
“I am pleased to announce that Dr. Casey Means, will be nominated as our next Surgeon General of the United States of America,” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social. “Casey has impeccable “MAHA” credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.”
“Her academic achievements, together with her life’s work, are absolutely outstanding. Dr. Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History,” the president added.
In reality, Means’ credentials as a medical professional are quite questionable, and much of her career has been dedicated to the promotion of pseudoscientific bunk and her own products and writing. Here’s everything you need to know about the woman who will potentially be America’s next top doctor:
Who is Casey Means?
Means is a prominent influencer within the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement championed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — whom she advises.
Means is probably best known for her 2024 book Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health, which she co-wrote with her brother. Before her foray into literary pop-medicine, Means co-founded Levels, a startup that sold wearable glucose monitors and facilitated blood tests to help users track their metabolic health through a subscription-based app.
Means has appeared on massively popular podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience — where she suggested there may be a link between vaccines and developmental disorders — and The Tucker Carlson Show. She has over 750,000 followers on Instagram, and also runs a blog where she provides health and life advice to readers. In one post, means recounted how in an effort to find love in her mid-thirties, she created a shrine where she prayed to her ancestors for guidance, performed “full moon” ceremonies, did mushrooms, and literally spoke to trees on solo hikes.
In another blog post, she admitted that she converses with ChatGPT to discuss ways to stop a “total global ecosystem collapse with human health as one piece of collateral damage.” Other posts advertise videos on “THREE FOODS WORSE THAN COCAINE.” You get the idea.
Is Casey Means a doctor?
Means has an MD from Stanford University, and was on track to become an otolaryngological surgeon before quitting her residency in order to pursue studies in “functional medicine” — a form of alternative medicine that claims to prioritize treating the root cause of disease over the symptoms. Functional medicine has been accused of using excessive testing and analysis on patients where a standard diagnostic matrix would suffice, and of veering towards pseudoscientific practices that can be harmful to a patient’s health.
According to the Oregon Medical Board, Means medical license is currently inactive, and her website states that she “is no longer seeing patients and is not able to comment on specific medical conditions or provide any medical guidance.”
So is the woman Trump’s wants to be the top-ranking doctor in the United States actually a doctor? Kind of!
How aligned is Casey Means and RFK Jr. on issues like vaccines?
Means has a friendly relationship with HHS secretary and known anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and was openly supportive of his nomination for the position. While she hasn’t expressed explicit opposition to vaccinations, she has promoted claims doubting their safety and calling for further research.
“There is growing evidence that the total burden of the current extreme and growing vaccine schedule is causing health declines in vulnerable children,” she wrote as part of an October “wish list” for the presidency.
Means and her brother, Calley Means, have been very public about their relationship with Kenendy, supporting both his failed presidential candidacy and his current position as HHS secretary. It’s no surprise, given that much of their messaging around processed foods, Covid-19, mental illness, and the general state of public health in America overlap significantly with Kennedy’s views.
Last year, Calley Means claimed to have had a vision of Kennedy and Trump standing side by side together while praying for Kennedy during a campaign event, and reportedly became heavily involved in the Trump 2024 presidential transition project.
How did Trump come to know Casey Means?
Apparently, he doesn’t. During an Oval Office press gaggle on Thursday, Trump told reporters that he actually doesn’t know Means at all.
“You just announced a new nominee for U.S. surgeon general who never finished her residency, and is not a practicing physician. So can you explain why you picked her to be America’s top doctor?” one reporter asked.
“Because Bobby thought she was fantastic,” Trump replied. “She’s a brilliant woman who went through Stanford — and as I understand it she wanted to be an academic as opposed to a surgeon.”
“Bobby really thought she was great,” Trump added. “I don’t know her. I listened to the recommendation of Bobby. I met her yesterday and once before.”
