The Senate confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump's Surgeon General nominee, Dr. Casey Means, was postponed after she went into labor, according to a spokesman for the Senate committee that will consider her nomination.
Means was scheduled 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 care job.
If she takes on the role, Means will become the county's lead public health official, with the authority to issue health warnings and advisories.
“We are very happy for Dr. Means and her family,” Department of Health and Human Services. said in X. “This is one of the few times in life when it’s easy to ask for a Senate hearing to be rescheduled!”
Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, also congratulated Means and her husband. on X.
“There is no greater reward than being a parent,” he said. “I expect to reschedule her hearing when she is ready.”
Means' nomination was controversial: A close ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., she expressed skepticism of conventional medicine and promoted health products. She also does not have a valid medical license.
Trump nominated her in May after he abandoned his previous choiceDr. Jeanette Nesheiwat, former Fox News medical contributor.
Trump said he chose Means on Kennedy's recommendation. She was a campaign adviser to Kennedy's presidential campaign and the architect of his Make America Healthy Again program.
In her 2024 book Good Energy, Means describes leaving a medical residency program after becoming disillusioned with the medical system's focus on treating disease rather than curing patients. She received her medical degree from Stanford University and completed almost the entire five-year surgical residency at Oregon Health and Science University before dropping out.
“I left the hospital and went on a journey to understand the real reasons why people get sick,” she wrote in her book.
Means' medical license expired in January 2024. The issue was expected to be raised at the hearing before it was adjourned.
Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served during the first Trump administration, argued that residency training and a current medical license are implicit legal requirements for this position, since surgeons primarily oversee the Public Health Service Commissioner Corps, a federal public health unit that requires its employees to have medical licenses.
Means did not respond to requests for comment ahead of Thursday's expected hearing.
Emily Hilliard, spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, The statement said Means' “credentials, research experience and public life experience give her the right perspective to become the surgeon general who helps ensure that America never again becomes the sickest nation on Earth.”
Means' past comments on childhood vaccinations also attracted attention. In May she wrote in her newsletter that the “total burden” of the current vaccination schedule is “causing poor health in vulnerable children,” and she referenced a Substack report that said vaccines cause autism, a claim that scientific evidence has repeatedly refuted.
Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, is a physician and vaccine advocate. During Kennedy Cassidy's confirmation process admitted his hesitation but ended up giving Kennedy critical support.
This means also told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson last year that birth control pills are “prescribed like candy.” In her newsletter, she wrote that hormonal birth control poses “terrifying health risks.” (Decades of research have shown that it is safe for most people and serious complications are rare, although some studies have found slightly increased risk of breast cancer in women taking birth control pills.)
These positions, taken together, have raised concerns among some public health experts that Means could use his potential chair to spread misleading information.
“Casey Means has built a career attacking contraception, vaccines and women’s autonomy, while profiting from misinformation and health fads,” Dr. Dara Kass, a former HHS regional director in the Biden administration, said in a statement. “The Senate must reject this dangerous, unqualified candidate.”
However, Means has gained popularity in health circles for her reporting on undue corporate influence in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Her book argues that people can “improve and extend their lives” by using “simple principles that doctors are not taught in medical school,” namely eating healthier, getting more sleep and physical activity, and understanding underlying disease risks.
Many public health experts agree that a renewed focus on healthy eating and lifestyle choices is warranted, although some question the specific decisions Means has supported with her work.
Means became a co-founder of the company called Levels, which helps people manage their blood glucose levels and also sells supplements, teas and other wellness products on social media. Investigation conducted Associated Press found that Means sometimes failed to disclose that she might profit or benefit from sales.
Means signed an ethics agreement said in September that it would step down from its consulting position at Levels and stop promoting its book, newsletter and monetized social media posts.
Dr. Richard Carmona, who was surgeon general from 2002 to 2006 under President George W. Bush, said he was concerned about the candidate, who did not complete his medical training and has never held a medical leadership position.
“As Surgeon General, I want to make sure that this is someone who has the appropriate training, experience, integrity and knowledge to deal with the complexity of today's United States and our interactions with the rest of the world. There is not a single box that she checks that is truly relevant to the problems that we are dealing with today,” he said.
Marion Nestle, professor emeritus of dietetics, food studies and public health at New York University, said Means should be judged on her actions in office, not on the fact that she did not complete her residency. If Means' claim proves true, Nestlé says it could use its platform to promote healthy eating.
“She could eat ultra-processed foods. That would be amazing,” Nestlé said.
But Nestlé warned that promoting the supplements would not be backed by scientific research.
“I'm pro-health. I'm not pro-health products because I don't think there's a lot of evidence that they work,” she said.
