New US Surgeon General Nominee Is RFK Jr.’s Favorite ‘Wellness Influencer’
from the clownshow dept
The state of American health is in crisis at the moment due to a confluence of things entirely created by the current administration. Putting RFK Jr. in charge of Health and Human Services (HHS) never felt like anything other than a move designed to troll Trump’s detractors and it shows. As the measles outbreak that began earlier this year continues to grow, Kennedy is busying himself going on talk shows to promise to end chemtrails or else claiming he’ll have the origins of autism solved in a few months. Musk’s DOGE, meanwhile, has produced a 1/8th cut of HHS’ workforce and slashed its funding while this is all going on. Thanks to DOGE and an obedient Kennedy, HHS has less capability to keep us healthy than it did before.
The health of a nation isn’t some joke. The people in charge of it should be more qualified to run it than simply having a famous last name and a penchant for spouting conspiracy theories about health concerns. And when the latest nominee for Surgeon General is best described as Kennedy’s favorite “wellness influencer,” well, we have a problem.
Dr. Casey Means is the nominee and, to be fair to her, she has a medical degree from Stanford and has done medical research work for the government and several prominent universities in the past. The previous nominee, Janette Nesheiwat, just withdrew without much explanation. Reports seem to indicate that this resulted from harsh pushback from alt-right gremlin Laura Loomer.
Means has no experience in government administration, however, and dropped her residency some time ago. Now she runs a tech company and hocks health supplements.
Casey Means has no government experience and dropped out of her surgical residency program, saying she became disillusioned with traditional medicine. She founded a health tech company, Levels, that helps users track blood sugar and other metrics. She also makes money from dietary supplements, creams, teas and other products sponsored on her social media accounts.
Means has mostly steered clear of Kennedy’s controversial and debunked views on vaccines. But on her website, she has called for more investigation into their safety and recommends making it easier for patients to sue drugmakers in the event of vaccine injuries. Since the late 1980s, federal law has shielded those companies from legal liability to encourage development of vaccines without the threat of costly personal injury lawsuits.
And this is going to be America’s doctor. Someone who is at least lightly skeptical of vaccines and whose main qualification for the job appears to be that she supported Kennedy and he likes her.
Apparently other supporters, such as Kennedy’s running mate in his failed presidential bid, are quite skeptical of the nomination.
“Yes, it’s very strange. Doesn’t make any sense,” philanthropist Nicole Shanahan said in a post on X, responding to a separate post that was criticizing Trump’s decision to select Means. Means is primarily known as a wellness influencer.
“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),” Shanahan continued, referring to Means and her brother, Calley Means. “I don’t know if RFK very clearly lied to me, or what is going on. It has been clear in recent conversations that he is reporting to someone regularly who is controlling his decisions (and it isn’t President Trump).”
You can also add the previously mentioned Laura Loomer to Means’ detractors as well.
I agree with them, though I’m sure on vastly different grounds. Trump’s desire for media-first personalities within government positions is nothing new, of course, but dipping so low as to put an “influencer” in as the nation’s top doctor is plainly absurd. To do it at the moment when there is a measles outbreak occurring is all the more so.
The need to remove Kennedy from his post is only becoming all the more clear.
Filed Under: casey means, influencer, rfk jr., surgeon general, wellness
Comments on “New US Surgeon General Nominee Is RFK Jr.’s Favorite ‘Wellness Influencer’”
Know a person by those that they admire or that admire them
Given how horrifying his ideas of ‘health’ and ‘medicine’ are I don’t care what their other qualifications may be, if RFK Jr thinks that someone is a good doctor I don’t want them anywhere near anything health or medicine related.
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Most people that have voted Trumps are just getting theirs medical advises from internet, on YouTube or social networks, so nominating a internet personality is certainly the best way to put any message you want directly in theses people mind, every day at any time.
And RFK would never pick up an academic, given how much Trump is willing to destroy the universities (where a fair share of this “woke” “Deep State” is supposed to be).
But it could have been worse, RFK could have chosen its yoga instructor just because he’s again chemtrails or “nano-robots controlling people mind” in vaccines.
These people are going to shut down access to real medicine. We’ll all be offered Ivermectin or cod liver oil. Or perhaps they’ll use leeches to try to balance our humors.
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Ivermectin is real medicine and a standard intestine parasite medication for livestock (meadows provide unnaturally high success rates for the live cycles of intestine parasites compared to extensive ranges, so regular treatment tends to be necessary). It tends to be used alternatingly with praziquantel which also works against tapeworms (ivermectin is more specific to parasitic insect larvae).
Either medication is also used to treat human intestine parasites, of course in different dosage than you would use for a horse.
Now why you would take either of those poisonous substances (eradicating primitive live forms without significantly affecting complex live forms and microbiomes is a tricky proposition) when not treating intestine parasites is a different question.
As opposed to, say, antibiotics for viral infections which at least offer marginal benefits by blocking opportunistic bacterial infections, it is not like tapeworms are stalking Covid patients, and pounce and ambush them while they are down.
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No no no. You’re supposed to fearmonger, see? Knowing what you’re talking about is a sin here.
When even Laura Loomer, well-known far right influencer and conspiracy fantasist, has a problem with this, you know it’s bad!
This is one of the most intentionally misunderstood points by the modern right wing, and yet again something where once you dig in, it’s almost the diametric opposite of what they’re claiming. The law they reference also includes the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Since the risks are so incredibly well studied and laid out in detail, if you or your child suffers one of these side effects (including allergic reactions), you can file a petition and receive compensation based on their established standards. Comparing this to attempting an individual lawsuit against a multi-billion-dollar pharma corp with teams of vicious lawyers, that might take years and cost hundreds of thousands in lawyers and court fees, this is a far less punishing and more favorable option.
If you’re still unsatisfied, Part B of H.R.5546:
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They just need hate to keep the machine going.
Misrepresenting reality is a favorite tool in their kit. Possibly the only one.
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Well, reality does have a well-known left-wing bias, so it’s no wonder the right-wing hates it!
It's (still) a death cult
This decision, like numerous others made by this administration, is explicitly designed and intended to maximize the body count. The goal is to kill as many people as possible while simultaneously claiming that it was their fault for dying. (See Kennedy’s rhetoric about measles not killing healthy people.)
The shutdown of the CPSC, the dismantling of the NIH, CDC, FDA, etc., the destruction of the NSF, the attacks on Medicaid and Medicare, all of these things are part of a coordinated effort to kill as many American as possible.
Why? Because a population that’s busy sick and dying, and trying to cope with being sick and dying, and trying to deal with sick and dying family/friends/etc., is a population much more easily controlled. And that’s the goal, to be pursued at any cost, including the deaths of tens of millions.
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I feel like there are better ways to control a population than to kill people until there are no people left.
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As the trump administration attacks education…
“Make them stupid and sick”.
WHAT does A u.s. SURGEON GENERAL do all day ?
WhY do WE need one in this 21st Century ??
Another distraction tossed out by the current administration. I think the goal is to get people so frustrated that they stop tuning in.
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why haven’t you made an account yet?
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A better question is why haven’t you if you are so concerned about it?
All I can say to Shanahan is that yes, RFK Jr. outright lied to you and you knew he was lying. You knew Trump’s track record. You knew what Trump was saying at his rallies. You are not that oblivious. So cut the crap because we ain’t buying it.
Awesome.
I really love that guy, such a amazing dude. All the best.
Yes the failed state of crapafornia is a model the rest of the usa should follow .
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You mean “4th-largest economy in the world” California? The state where the majority of US innovation and influence originates?
If THAT’S a failed state, then there aren’t many passing ones.