트럼프의 MAHA 인플루언서 선정, 보건장관 후보가 상원에 회부되다
Source: Ars Technica
Background
Casey Means, President Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday. While she earned a medical degree from Stanford Medical School, she left her medical residency and does not hold an active medical license. Instead, Means has built a career as a wellness influencer, promoting “functional” medicine—a loosely defined branch of alternative medicine.
Business Activities
Means co‑founded the company Levels (https://www.levels.com/blog/author/caseymeans), which markets intensive health‑tracking tools, including continuous glucose monitoring for individuals without diabetes or prediabetes. The efficacy of such monitoring in healthy people is not supported by robust evidence.
Financial Ties
An analysis by The Washington Post (link) reported that Means earned more than $500,000 between 2024 and 2025 from partnerships with companies selling:
- Diagnostic testing kits
- Herbal remedies and wellness products
- Teas, supplements, and elixirs
Political and Ideological Alignment
Means is a prominent ally of anti‑vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and is popular among followers of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement.
Publication
In 2024, Means and her brother Calley Means—also a close Kennedy ally and former Trump administration official—co‑authored Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health (Washington Post discussion). The book offers dietary and lifestyle recommendations, such as avoiding:
- Processed foods and seed oils
- Fragrances and many household products
- Fluoride, unfiltered water, and bananas when eaten alone
- Receipt paper and birth‑control pills
It also features a chapter titled “Trust Yourself, Not Your Doctor.”