The US doesn’t need another quack in charge of public health policy

On Tuesday, Casey Means had a long-delayed Senate hearing on her nomination to become surgeon general.

This may be President Trump’s weirdest nomination so far — keep in mind that this is the administration that wanted to make Matt Gaetz the attorney general of the United States. 

Means, an influencer, got this nomination because her social media accounts and best-selling book helped launch the MAHA movement. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. thinks that makes her the perfect pick for surgeon general, America’s top doctor.

Except she’s not a doctor — not a practicing one, anyway. She did graduate from Stanford medical school, but she dropped out of her residency before completing it. Her license is listed as “inactive” by the state of Oregon and, by her own admission, she is not able to write prescriptions or practice medicine.

Right off the bat, this appears to disqualify her from the job. But nothing like this has ever come up before, since no president has ever considered nominating a social media influencer as surgeon general.

Part of the job description of being surgeon general is being the vice admiral of the Commission Corps, “an elite group of multidisciplinary officers working throughout the federal government whose mission is to protect, promote, and advance the health of our nation.” But there are requirements for being an officer in the Corps, and one of them is that “Each Corps officer must possess and maintain current, unrestricted licensure.”

In other words, Casey Means is legally ineligible to join the organization that she would be leading.

Means has also expressed positions consistent with being an anti-vaxxer. She has come out particularly strong against the Hepatitis B vaccine, claiming that, “The disease is transmitted through needles and sex exclusively. There is no benefit to the baby or the wider population for a child to get this vaccine who is not at risk for sexual or IV transmission. There is only risk.” 

It turns out, that’s not remotely true. Hepatitis B can be spread that way, but it can also be spread through other bodily fluids, including saliva. In the United States, about 640,000 people have “chronic” Hepatitis B, which means they have Hepatitis B for their entire lives. Not only will a Hepatitis B vaccine keep you from catching it as a child, it will also protect you later in life if you do run across someone with chronic Hepatitis B — who often do not know they are infected. When pressed by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the committee chair, on whether she would recommend the measles vaccine to parents, Means said this: “I’m not an individual’s doctor and every individual needs to talk to their doctor before putting a medication in their body.” Being unable to commit to the most basic public health advice when you’re the surgeon general is a real problem, since giving that kind of advice is your single biggest job. 

In Mean’s case, it’s also jaw-droppingly hypocritical. As a social media influencer, she has regularly made enthusiastic recommendations, telling her fans to take various supplements and claiming that they would, among other things, help cure infertility. Look at this pitch for WeNatal, for example.

But when it comes to vaccines, even measles and flu vaccines, she does nothing but hedge. It took Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) three minutes just to get her to admit that there is some clinical evidence that flu vaccines are effective.  

But let’s get back to her inactive medical license. Means claims it would be easy to reinstate if she wanted to, but that might not be as easy as she implies.

In her best-selling book, “Good Energy,” Means talks about her experimentation with psilocybin — “magic mushrooms” — and even recommends that her readers try them. When asked whether, as surgeon general, she would encourage people to use illegal drugs, as she did in her book, she responded, “What I would say as a private citizen is, in many cases, different than what I would say as a public health official.” Some much for honesty, integrity and authenticity, I guess.

Psilocybin is currently listed as a Schedule 1 narcotic; using or possessing it is a violation of federal law. In Oregon, there is a list of 27 things that are grounds for suspending or revoking a medical license. One of those things is “Violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act.” 

As a social media influencer, Casey Means is both interesting and hugely successful. But as a political appointee, she is a hot mess with no business becoming America’s chief public health spokesperson.

Still don’t believe me? Here’s a quote from her blog: “I believe that freeing my physical and energetic body from the societal, intergenerational, and personal shackles of wounds and expectation and living into my divine, eternally connected, and limitless potential creates a biological reality in my body that is more conducive to creating new life.” Put that on a package of cigarettes.

Casey Means should not be confirmed as surgeon general. She is unsuited, unqualified and unlicensed. Even Laura Loomer thinks so. Does Cassidy ? 

Chris Truax is an appellate attorney who served as Southern California chair for John McCain’s primary campaign in 2008.   

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