Casey Means is Donald Trump's nominee for surgeon general of the United States. She was nominated in May 2025 on the recommendation of Robert F. Kennedy junior, the health secretary and leader of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. She must be confirmed by the Senate.
Means is 37. She graduated from Stanford Medical School and began a five-year surgical residency but quit months before completing it. She does not hold an active medical licence. After leaving her residency she co-founded a company to help people monitor their glucose levels. She co-wrote a bestselling book, "Good Energy", with her brother Calley Means, now a top adviser to Mr Kennedy.
Ms Means is a prominent wellness adviser and MAHA adherent. She argues that rising rates of disease—from cancer to Alzheimer's to erectile dysfunction—stem from plastics and chemicals in the food chain, over-medication, needless surgery, bad lifestyle choices and disregard of nature. She has described the issue as ultimately "a spiritual issue" and urged followers to "embrace the 'woo woo'", describing full-moon ceremonies and asking trees for guidance.
She has called vaccine mandates "criminal" and the childhood vaccine schedule "insane", though some anti-vaccination campaigners consider her scepticism insufficiently radical. During her confirmation hearing she avoided committing to recommending vaccines, instead encouraging families to talk to their doctors. Jerome Adams, surgeon general during Trump's first term, said "She is not the right person for the moment," pointing to a resurgence of measles. Trump has given her muted support.
In her weekly newsletter she has described women as "lunar beings who exist on a 28-day moon cycle" and criticised modern life for demanding "constant productivity, endless yang energy, and punishing speed."
One of the universal rules of happiness is: always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.