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Dr. Casey Means takes her seat at the start of a Senate Health, Education Labor and Pension Committee Conformation Hearing for U.S. Surgeon General on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington.<\/span>Tom Brenner\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n President Donald Trump\u2019s <\/span>pick for surgeon general, wellness influencer<\/a> Casey Means, parroted various MAHA talking points throughout a Senate confirmation hearing<\/a> Wednesday, while deflecting on key issues such as vaccines and birth control. Some of Means\u2019 responses even appeared to contradict previous public health-related statements she\u2019s made in order to fall in line with the administration.<\/p>\n The MAHA talking points included a push for \u201cinformed consent<\/a>\u201d where \u201cpatients [or parents] need to have a conversation with their doctor\u201d to ensure \u201cfaith in public health.\u201d Then, \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s responsible to make a blanket statement for all Americans\u201d when discussing the safety of vaccines and birth control pills. Instead, Means claimed, that public health officials should \u201cfocus on the root<\/a> causes<\/a> of why we are sick.\u201d<\/p>\n Her remarks on vaccines and birth control pills were particularly troubling. She largely disregarded decades of overwhelming scientific evidence<\/a> that vaccines do not cause autism, insisting that \u201cwe should not leave any stone unturned\u201d to promote further investigation<\/a>. Means also backed her previous claim that birth control represents a \u201cdisrespect for life\u201d and carries \u201chorrifying health risks\u201d for women, telling senators Wednesday that \u201call medications have risks and benefits\u201d and provided the example of \u201cblood clots and stroke risk in women who have clotting disorders, who are smokers, who have obesity.\u201d<\/p>\n In a telling exchange, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) cited a newsletter<\/a> from August 2024, in which Means pointed to the World Health Organization\u2019s warning against glyphosate and argued that people should avoid conventionally grown foods that hurt, among several other reasons, \u201cyour cellular health.\u201d\u00a0But when asked about Trump\u2019s executive order last week that sought to ensure \u201can adequate supply\u201d of glyphosate-based herbicides, such as Roundup<\/a>, Means appeared to deflect. Instead<\/span>, Means backed her previous claims on removing toxic chemicals from food but refused to note the difference in the Trump administration\u2019s position.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just trying to help you to agree with yourself,\u201d Markey said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are in a very complicated moment for agriculture and food,\u201d Means responded. \u201cWe cannot overturn the entire agriculture system overnight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As my colleagues Kiera Butler and Anna Merlan wrote<\/a> last May after Means\u2019 nomination, the wellness influencer was a campaign adviser<\/a> during now-Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s 2024 presidential bid and a key promoter<\/a> of his \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d agenda.\u00a0<\/p>\n Means has even appeared to alarm some of Kennedy\u2019s allies, who have criticized her as \u201csinister [functionary] of Big Pharma, Big Food, or something much worse.\u201d At Wednesday\u2019s hearing, Democrats pointed to Means\u2019 history of promoting products while rarely disclosing<\/a> that she was earning financial compensation from their developers.<\/p>\n