The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) will hold a virtual confirmation hearing over the nomination of Casey Means to be U.S. surgeon general next week, five months after she was nominated.
The HELP Committee said in an announcement that Means would appear before the panel virtually, calling in from Kilauea, Hawaii.
President Trump nominated Means to be surgeon general in May, citing her “impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials” as qualifying her for the role. The Stanford-educated doctor-turned-chronic disease entrepreneur is the sister of Calley Means, a close adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Casey Means is a co-founder of Levels, a health technology company that focuses on tracking health information through devices. Kennedy is a proponent of wearable health devices, saying in a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, “My vision is every American is wearing a wearable within four years.”
Trump picked her after withdrawing his nomination of Janette Nesheiwat, whose credentials came under question. Means’s nomination was met with some opposition by former surgeon generals and those within the “Make America Health Again,” or MAHA, space.
In an op-ed published by The Hill, former Surgeon General Richard Carmona wrote that while Means was a physician educated at a reputable institution, she lacked the experience necessary for the role.
“She is not board certified, does not hold an active state medical license, never completed a medical residency and lacks substantial experience in clinical practice, public health, policy and scalable leadership,” wrote Carmona.
Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served during Trump’s first term, also came out against Means.
“I do not know and have nothing against Dr. Means – but I feel strongly that the person who is leading America’s Public Health Service should be held to the same standard as the people he or she is leading,” Adams wrote on social media.
In an op-ed published by Stat, Adams, a licensed anesthesiologist, noted the past four confirmed U.S. surgeons general had extensive experience and training relevant to public health policy. Adams before his own confirmation obtained a master’s degree in public health and was the health commissioner for Indiana.
Kennedy’s former presidential running mate Nicole Shanahan criticized Means’s nomination as well, writing on social media that it “doesn’t make any sense.”
