On Wednesday, President Trump made a last-minute switch in his pick for surgeon general, announcing that his new nominee would be Casey Means. The news came as something of a surprise, given that he had previously nominated Janette Nesheiwat, a Fox News contributor, for the job. According to CNBC, Trump withdrew Nesheiwat following questions about her medical education — and in her place, nominated Means, a wellness influencer who dropped out of her surgical residency and, according to Newsweek, does not have an active medical license. Here’s what to know about the woman slated to be the nation’s next top doctor.
She dropped out of her medical residency.
Announcing Means’s nomination on Truth Social, Trump wrote that “Casey has impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials.” So what exactly are those credentials? While Means graduated from Stanford Medical School, she has said herself that she learned “virtually nothing” there. A central piece to her origin story is that she dropped out of her medical residency as a head-and-neck surgeon because she “saw how broken and exploitative the health-care system is.” She pivoted to functional medicine and entrepreneurship, co-founding Levels, a glucose-monitoring company, and earning affiliate commissions promoting her favorite supplements.
She’s a close ally of RFK Jr. and a central voice in the MAHA movement.
Means and her brother, Calley — who was recently appointed a White House adviser working on “MAHA issues” — co-authored the 2024 best-selling book Good Energy, in which they argue that chronic diseases, including many cancers, can be attributed to lifestyle factors such as ultraprocessed foods and lack of movement. In an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast last fall, Casey claimed that a vast array of conditions, including autism, Alzheimer’s, and erectile dysfunction, are “all caused by metabolic dysfunction,” adding: “It’s basically like all of us are a little bit dead while we’re alive.” And — surprise — she thinks we need to “investigate” potential harms caused by the “extreme” childhood vaccine schedule.
She also has the following to say about the causes of infertility:
Even some of Trump and RFK Jr.’s staunchest supporters think she’s unqualified.
Nicole Shanahan, RFK’s former running mate, who previously threatened senators who didn’t vote to confirm him as Health and Human Services secretary, tweeted about her disappointment in the pick. “I was promised that if I supported RFK Jr. in his Senate confirmation that neither of these siblings would be working under HHS or in an appointment (and that people much more qualified would be),” she wrote on X, calling the decision “very strange” and speculating that someone is “controlling” Kennedy’s decisions.
Meanwhile, far-right activist Laura Loomer — who, notably, also criticized Nesheiwat before her name was withdrawn — called Means’s nomination “insane,” writing on X: “I do not believe for one second that Donald Trump made this decision. I refuse to believe it.”
But RFK Jr. is standing by her. In a post on X, he called the criticism of Casey “absurd” and argued that her lack of traditional medical experience is what makes her the “perfect choice” for surgeon general.
This post has been updated.