1. United States
2. Colo.
3. Letter

Vote against confirming Dr. Casey Means as Surgeon General. She’s unqualified and lacks an active medical license. She dropped out of her surgical residency before completing it. She claims she understood the reasons for people’s illnesses after leaving traditional medical practice. However, her colleagues criticized her for falsely claiming modern medicine is a conspiracy to keep people sick. In her blog posts and interviews as a wellness influencer, Means has expressed misinformed and conspiratorial thinking on public health. She called birth control pills a “disrespect of life” and declined to distance herself from anti-vaccine positions. She’s skeptical about the hepatitis B vaccination for babies and believes the current vaccine schedule is causing health declines in vulnerable children. Means also has potential conflicts of interest. She founded and is the chief medical officer of Levels, a membership-based continuous glucose monitoring technology company. If she doesn’t step down and divest from the company, she’ll be directly involved in matters as Surgeon General from which she can profit. The Surgeon General of the United States has two main responsibilities: leading the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS) and improving public health. Many of the civil servants in the corps are subject matter experts who were wrongfully terminated by the Trump Administration and by Secretary Kennedy. The Surgeon General, a crucial role as the nation’s chief health communicator, requires expertise in government agencies and scientific research. Means’ lack of experience makes her unsuitable for this critical position during uncertain times. Furthermore, her association with unscientific ideas, wellness products, and conspiratorial claims disqualifies her from serving as a credible health communicator and upholding sound science. These disqualifying characteristics warrant the immediate rescission of Means’ nomination for the Surgeon General position. If her confirmation proceeds to the Senate floor, senators must vote no.