Casey Means' Unconventional Path to Becoming U.S. Surgeon General Sparks Controversy

Casey Means, a Stanford-trained physician turned wellness entrepreneur and influencer, is set to appear before the Senate for her confirmation hearing to become the next U.S. Surgeon General, a nomination that has already stirred controversy across the medical community. Means, 38, is best known as the coauthor of the 2023 bestsellerGood Energy,a book on diet and metabolic health she wrote with her brother, Calley Means. A former Stanford Medical School graduate, she began residency training in head and neck surgery but left before completing it. She does not hold an activemedicallicense, a striking departure from every past U.S. Surgeon General, all of whom were fully licensed physicians. Since leaving clinical practice, Means has built a large online following through the wellness and “functional medicine” space. She co-founded a company promoting continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) as tools for tracking metabolic health and has made frequent appearances on health and lifestyle podcasts. Her message — blending nutrition, spirituality, and systemic critique, often overlaps with the rhetoric of her potential boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Both have accused federal health agencies of “corruption” and questioned mainstream medical practices, from vaccines to pharmaceuticals.