President Donald Trump is reportedly poised to nominate Dr. Casey Means, a physician-turned-wellness influencer closely allied with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to the prominent post of surgeon general, following the withdrawal of his erstwhile nominee for the influential health portfolio.

In a Wednesday missive on social media, Trump lauded Means, attributing to her "impeccable 'MAHA' credentials" – a nod to the "Make America Healthy Again" catchphrase – and asserting her commitment to extirpate chronic ailments and augment the nation's health and welfare.

“Her academic achievements, coupled with her life's corpus, are utterly exceptional,” Trump averred. “Dr. Casey Means possesses the capacity to emerge as one of the preeminent Surgeon Generals throughout the annals of United States history.”

The aforementioned action by Trump precipitated the withdrawal of Janette Nesheiwat, a erstwhile medical contributor to Fox News, from consideration for the position, thus constituting at least the second health-related nominee selected by Trump to be subsequently rescinded from Senate purview; Nesheiwat's confirmation hearing had been slated for appearance before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday.

Means and her sibling, erstwhile lobbyist Calley Means, served as crucial counsellors to Kennedy’s improbable 2024 presidential campaign and facilitated his imprimatur of Trump last summer. The duo made appearances alongside some of Trump’s most fervent adherents, garnering commendation from conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and podcaster Joe Rogan. Calley Means currently serves as a White House adviser who frequently features on television to champion limitations on SNAP benefits, the defluoridation of potable water, and other salient components of the MAHA agenda.

Devoid of governmental experience and having prematurely exited her surgical residency—a decision she attributes to a profound disillusionment with conventional medical practice—Casey Means established Levels, a health technology enterprise facilitating user-driven monitoring of glycaemic indices and sundry biometrics. Furthermore, her financial interests extend to the endorsement of a diverse array of consumables and topical applications, encompassing dietary supplements, dermatological preparations, and botanical infusions, primarily promoted via her pervasive social media presence.

In various discourse forms, including interviews and scholarly articles, Means and her brother delineate a labyrinthine network of contributing factors underpinning the nation's pervasive health crises, prominently citing the deleterious impact of venal food conglomerates whose strategic manipulation of palates has precipitated widespread dependence on deleterious dietary regimens, thereby engendering a profound reliance upon the pharmaceutical industry for managing a plethora of chronic ailments such as morbid obesity and debilitating diabetes through perpetual pharmacotherapy.

Few health professionals would contest the assertion that the American diet – replete with processed fare – is a significant antecedent to corpulence and its attendant morbidities; Means, however, posits a more extensive nexus, correlating dietary and lifestyle shifts with a plethora of conditions encompassing infertility, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and erectile dysfunction.

“Virtually the entirety of chronic health symptoms addressed by allopathic medicine stems from cellular duress engendered by contemporary lifestyles,” posited Means in a 2024 work co-authored with her sibling.

Means has largely distanced herself from Kennedy's contentious and discredited perspectives on vaccines, though on her website she has advocated for intensified scrutiny into their safety and facilitating recourse for patients seeking legal action against pharmaceutical manufacturers in cases of vaccine-related harm, notwithstanding federal legislation enacted in the late 1980s that has historically insulated these corporations from judicial exposure to foster vaccine development unimpeded by the potential financial burden of extensive personal injury litigation.

Having undertaken her surgical residency at Stanford University, she has since cultivated a considerable online following through her trenchant critiques of the prevailing medical establishment, championing instead a regimen of whole foods and lifestyle modifications posited as efficacious in the remediation of obesity, diabetes, and various other chronic morbidities.

Should Means' nomination for surgeon general gain ratification, he would be charged with facilitating Kennedy's expansive MAHA initiative, an agenda advocating for the exscission of multitudinous additives and chemicals from the American food supply, the extirpation of conflicts of interest within federal agencies, and the incentivization of more salubrious dietary choices in scholastic meal programs and ancillary nutritional schemes.

Nesheiwat, Trump's initial nominee, serves as a medical director for a New York-based urgent care firm and has frequently featured on Fox News, proffering medical acumen and perspectives. A fervent advocate for Trump, she routinely disseminates images of their joint appearances across social media platforms. Furthermore, Nesheiwat holds the familial connection of sister-in-law to former national security adviser Mike Waltz, who has received a nomination to assume the role of Trump's ambassador to the United Nations.

However, she had lately been subject to opprobrium from Laura Loomer, a far-right associate of Trump who played a pivotal role in the removal of several members of the president's National Security Council; Loomer promulgated on X earlier this week that a "pro-COVID vaccine nepo appointee, currently enmeshed in a medical malpractice suit and who did not attend medical school in the US," was an unacceptable candidate for the role of surgeon general.

Last month, independent freelance journalist Anthony Clark reported that Nesheiwat’s purported medical degree from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine was contradicted by evidence suggesting its provenance from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in St. Maarten; this discrepancy, according to an anonymous source conversant with the administration’s rationale, precipitated the White House’s withdrawal of her nomination due to concerns regarding the viability of her confirmation.

"I eagerly anticipate the continuation of my staunch support for President Trump and the prospect of collaborating intimately with Secretary Kennedy in a paramount policy capacity, dedicated to the realization of a revitalized, healthier America! My unwavering commitment remains centered on the enhancement of the health and welfare of the American populace in its entirety, a mission that persists unalterably," Nesheiwat articulated via social media on Wednesday.

The Surgeon General, the pre-eminent national physician and public health advocate, commands a cadre of six thousand commissioned officers within the U.S. Public Health Service Corps and possesses the prerogative to disseminate advisories apprising the populace of imminent public health imperilments.

In March, the White House rescinded the nomination of former Florida GOP Representative Dave Weldon for the directorship of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a decision prompted by concerns among key Republican senators regarding his vaccine skepticism and his subsequent withdrawal upon being apprised by the White House of insufficient senatorial backing for his confirmation.