WASHINGTON — Dr. Casey Means, President Trump’s pick to fill the role of surgeon general, which has been empty for over a year, faced a Senate committee grilling on Wednesday over conflicts of interest concerns, her endeavors with psilocybin, her stance on vaccines, and more.
Means, who co-authored the bestselling book that has been dubbed the bible of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda, with her husband, Calley, a senior advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services, impressed upon senators that her goal is to attack the “root causes” of disease.
“My vision for Surgeon General, and for the future of America, is to get more healthy, whole food on Americans’ plates and work to systematically encourage our health care system to focus on the root causes of why we are sick, and not just reactive sick care,” Means, 38, told senators.
“We have an incredible health care system,” she added. “It’s produced miracles when we have an acute issue… but 90% of health care costs are now going into chronic diseases.”
While her pitch to carry out Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda of crusading against chronic disease drew fanfare from some Republicans in her Senate hearing, other lawmakers grilled her on a bevy of reservations they had about her track record.
“I am concerned that in your book on ‘Good Energy’ that you urge readers to consider psilocybin-assisted therapy,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said. “You also said that you were inspired to try psychedelics, ‘In what I can only describe as an internal voice that whispered, “It’s time to prepare.”‘”
Means stressed that what she plans to communicate to the American people as a public official will be more cautious than when she was in the private sector. She also contended that the “science is still emerging” on psilocybin and that she wouldn’t encourage Americans to use illegal drugs.
The voice she described in her book was from her deceased mother, encouraging her try shrooms.
Perhaps the most aggressive questioning she faced from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) confirmation hearing came from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a darling of the left who has attracted some 2028 buzz.
Murphy cited a complaint claiming that she Federal Trade Commission disclosure requirements when promoting wellness products on social media without divulging her ties to the firms behind them.
He rattled through a few examples, including an accusation that she claimed to have not had financial benefits from a prenatal vitamin she promoted, despite getting partnership fees.
“I’m happy to look at whatever documentation you’re talking about, but you’re incorrect. This is a false representation,” she replied. “I spent the last several months working with the Office of Federal Ethics to be fully compliant.”
Means is widely seen as an unorthodox pick for surgeon general, the nation’s top doctor who is tasked with being the chief federal spokesperson on public health matters.
The Stanford-trained surgeon has long been a fierce critic of the medical establishment and has argued that the US needs to focus more on functional medicine, which emphasizes the importance of countering the underlying causes of diseases.
She’s an expert on metabolic health and believes that taking steps to optimize cellular metabolism will help combat the rise of chronic diseases.
Another gripe against her during the HELP confirmation hearing is that her medical license is inactive, which means she can’t prescribe medication to patients.
“For any doctor in a state where you are required to put your license on inactive if you’re not seeing patients, I would imagine that many, many physicians in public health service who aren’t seeing patients would have to put their license on inactive status,” she told Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), when pressed.
HELP Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a gastroenterologist, raised concerns about her position on vaccines, something that has long given him heartburn over Kennedy.
“I want to just back up and broadly just reassure you that this is not an issue that I intend to complicate or bring an agenda on vaccines,” Means said, seeking to reassure him.
Cassidy, who is facing a tough GOP primary with a Trump-endorsed rival, ticked through an array of vaccine-related concerns, including that she may attempt to undermine parent-doctor deliberations on child vaccination.
He also got her to cast doubt on controversial concerns that vaccines are linked to autism — something the mainstream medical community largely rejects.
“I do accept that evidence,” she said. “I also think that science is never settled, and I think that the effort to look at comprehensive, cumulative exposures of our exposure into what is causing autism is important, and I look forward to seeing those results.”
Kennedy loomed large over the hearing, and Means endeavored to avoid criticizing him despite attempts by Democrats to bait her.
Means had initially been slated to have her confirmation hearing last October, but that was delayed because she went into labor with a baby boy. She must first clear the HELP Committee and then the full Senate in order to get confirmed as surgeon general.