Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump's pick for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, faced a hostile Senate hearing yesterday. She vigorously defended her view that American medicine is on the wrong track and playing whack-a-mole with diseases, rather than going after the root causes. She is very much on the same page as HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.
Although Means has an M.D. degree from Stanford, she became disillusioned with mainstream medicine during her surgical residency and dropped out. She then began a career as an influencer in which she hawked products of questionable value, without disclosing the fact that she would benefit financially from them. She made hundreds of thousands of dollars pushing basil-seed supplements, teas, and elixirs. She definitely understands the art of the grift. However, she has no government experience, no experience running anything, and her medical license is currently not active. But her love for Bobby is genuine.
Surgeons general have sometimes used their position to make statements about vaccines. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), chair of the HELP Committee, asked Means about her views about them. As a physician himself, he probably remembers Kennedy lying through his teeth when Cassidy was the deciding vote that got Kennedy confirmed. Will he try for a repeat performance? Maybe. When Means refused to say that people should get vaccinated against measles and the flu, that could have been a hint to Cassidy. Then he asked her if vaccines cause autism, referring to a long-discredited paper on the subject that was in The Lancet and that the journal has since retracted. She said the science is never settled. She said she is looking forward to a new study, even though there have been dozens already. Only all the other ones didn't give the results she wanted. Cassidy also asked her about the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine, which has almost eliminated the disease in babies, and she again equivocated. Cassidy has either the brain of a paramecium or the spine of a jellyfish and will probably vote to confirm, even though she basically finessed all his questions. And all for nought. Donald Trump has already endorsed a primary opponent, so Cassidy may be a dead man walking. And instead of going out standing tall and doing the right thing and being a hero, he is going to go out as a coward who sold out the country in a desperate and probably losing fight to keep his job.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) asked about hormonal birth control pills. Means said: "Doctors do not have enough time for a thorough informed consent conversation." That is sort of different than "They have been around for over 60 years and there is massive evidence that they are safe and effective." Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) asked Means about her touting the use of psychedelic mushrooms. Means said: "What I would say as a private citizen is in many cases different than what I'd say as a public health official." Huh? In other words, in private she doesn't believe any of the stuff she says in public and doesn't follow her own public advice. Sounds like the perfect position for doctor-in-chief for this administration. She must have taken the Hippocritic oath instead of the Hippocratic oath as a young doctor.
Two previous surgeons general, Rich Carmona and Jerome Adams, have said Means is unqualified for the position. But since when is being qualified for a position in this administration a selling point, let alone a requirement? (V)