Em (@bluegirlpdx.bsky.social)

Doctor Who: Why Casey Means Makes A Surreal Nominee for Surgeon General * * * ## Let's talk about it. In another baffling move that would only befit the movie _Idiocracy_ , Trump’s latest nepo nominee, Casey Means, is up for Surgeon General. Means, a fellow Oregonian, is a health tech founder and clean-eating influencer whose brother happens to work closely with RFK. At her confirmation hearing, this practitioner of "functional medicine" answered Senator's questions in a manner that reminded me of Justice Barrett's answers before she joined the SCOTUS bench. Means supports standing vaccine policy like Amy Coney Barrett supported Roe v. Wade precedent, fake smile and all. In both cases they claim to care about all lives, but they make choices that 3/4 of Americans do not agree with, because their own lives matter more. Want to know what I really think? Channeling Linda Richman, such _gehakte tsuris_ we have. The Surgeon General Senate confirmation hearing was a _schanda._ The whole thing has me all _farshimmelt._ 📌 _****Yiddish Glossary****_ _****- schanda****_ — a shame, a disgrace, a scandal, a horror and embarrassment _****- gehakte tsuris****_ — literally "chopped troubles"; a whole mess of problems _****- farshimmelt****_ — confused, dazed, bewildered _****- shtick****_ — a person’s signature thing, their special interest, their bit or routine **Talk amongst yourselves… I’ll give you a topic.** > _Casey Means, Trump’s Surgeon General nominee, is neither a Surgeon… nor a General. Discuss._ The ability to inform and influence public policy and healthcare is arguably the most important role. And yet, this is who they chose to be _America’s Next Top Doctor._ A measles vax skeptic says women and parents need to know the truth, while lying about her conflicts of interest outright. In her Senate confirmation hearing she emphasized there are down sides to The Pill. The birth control pill is NOT the problem. The red-pilled pseudoscientists taking over public health at the federal level is, and the downstream effects will harm not just Americans but populations around the globe. Diseases don’t know borders. Contagions are bi-partisan, so the GOP is willfully harming their constituents. The sad part is that public health intersects every part of our lives. We now have the SDOH (social determinants of health) as a framework for how health is connected to literally everything. I won't down play Means’ positions, including her vaccine skepticism. Normalizing leaders with zero leadership experience or medical knowledge is how we got here (with Measles outbreaks taking kids lives). Her bias and inexperience in healthcare is dangerous AF and we should not be treating this as business as usual. ### Unqualified and unserious. While I generally push back on credentialism, in this case, her lack of qualifications is an enormous liability, and frankly, an embarrassment. It’s beyond a misalignment of values with the majority of Americans. It's eugenics and ableism hiding in plain sight. It shows how unserious, (despite their PR _"Make America Healthy Again"_ slogan), this administration is about American's health. But we knew that when they withdrew from the WHO, and the Paris Climate Agreement, _again_. It proves they are hell bent on disabling people, leaving them with medical debt, and saddling them with children from unwanted pregnancies. This is one more step on their path to gut all public health institutions, destroy social services, and eviscerate trust in the name of choice. Public health must be science driven, research driven, and staffed with qualified doctors—the smartest, most competent and skilled in medicine who actually finish freaking residency. Informed decisions must be made with the best interest of the full public, for the common and collective good, and should minimize racial disparities and the ability to access safe care and provide information that’s clear, timely, and accurate. The top roles—cabinet members, agency leaders, even POTUS—are being filled by reality tv stars and social media influencers, and they’re driving HHS straight into the ground—6’ under it. If they _were_ serious, which they are not, they would be discussing issues that actually impact public health and the real crises we face. Long Covid disabling one million Americans. The lack of mental health providers with a youth population in crises. They’re completely ignoring the crashing care economy, but that's also on brand. The budget cuts made to Medicaid harm those already burdened with higher support needs. "You don’t have anything if you don’t have your health,” right? Well, these people are doing everything in their power to ensure we have poor health _and_ no affordable healthcare, moving us further away from any definition of “well.” They voted to end the child tax credit that lifted millions of kids out of poverty during the pandemic. Ending international programs that save lives, preventing sex education, and closing clinics focused on reproductive care is _undoing_ progress. When Dr. Walensky led the CDC under Biden and Fauci, she faced attacks on her lack of experience in government…but she was a well qualified and experienced epidemiology doctor with her MPH and specialized in disease prevention. She was under scrutiny from everyone, but I clocked it then: her qualifications weren't the issue. Her direction at the CDC and advice on disease prevention was sound. What she had was a “failure to communicate.” The CDC and the Dems had, and continue to have, a strategic comms problem—not a lack of ability, expertise, experience, or morals. We cannot say the same for the GOP, who continue to give us anything but the best and brightest. What they lack in qualifications they make up for in media spin. ### Healthcare™ As mouth pieces for MAGA, RFK and his underlings flood the zone with buzz words like "family values" and "choice." Means echoed this when questioned by the Senate, stopping short of direct support for the overwhelming evidence that vaccines do not cause autism. MAHA has even co-opted “value” with “value-based healthcare” or VBC—a care model that uses patient outcomes to inform compensation for providers (as opposed to universal healthcare and pay equity). They claim it gives more options and “choice” in treatments. To me, it sounds like school voucher proponents, and we know who benefits from that “flexible funding” model. **When “Wellness” is an “industry,” the goal to be “well” is both driven by and negated by capitalism.** We can’t be well in a system that commodifies and pathologizes every aspect of our identity and humanity, every struggle caused by an unjust system cannot be fixed with nootropics, and chronic illnesses don’t just evaporate with a quick fix. Even if we hydrate, drinking more water will not cure what ails a sick society. _The Powers That Be_ exploit our lives for their benefit. This is America, after all. What else would they want with our bodies? Why else get a high-profile civil servant job if not to make billions, _am I right_? Their goal is the same no matter the agency: make a killing, one way or another. If they cared, why cut Medicare or SNAP benefits? Why end PEPFAR? Budgets don’t lie, even if they do. Their cost cutting is _not_ about savings for the American consumer (patients, students). It's about cutting corners while they skim off the top or pedal an alternative. For MAHA, need to pathologize is only in service of _their_ “need” to profit. You can’t market something you can’t brand, and they love a good soundbite. (These are the same people who bomb schools full of children and declare it peace. What a _shanda._) When you name a problem, you can offer (sell) the cure to the masses, and bonus: position yourself as a savior. That's their goal: to save us, whether it's Dr. Oz’s various snake oils, “Trump RX,” RFK’s, um… raw milk. Now, with Casey Means (can we call her a Doctor without a medical license?) on the docket, the administration has a fresh, new entry for an HHS marketing campaign “Most Likely to Be Conflict of Interest.” She has her glucose monitor, supplements, and books. Just like that, MAHA found one more way to profit off our illnesses and eventual demise. Having a Surgeon General with no medical license, who dropped out of residency, peddling doubts in vaccines while selling her own health-tech as a boon for society is almost beyond belief… almost. The GOP are destroying every single protection and protocol we have to keep ourselves healthy. ### Listen to those who actually know. As I said before in my open letter to the CDC's Dr. Walensky in 2022, > _"I too have a visceral need to shout, 'Please listen to the experts; not political pundits or strategists’…As a designer passionate about accessibility and the “Future of Work,” I want all Americans to have safe, healthy, and inclusive workplaces.”_ To be clear, I am _not_ qualified either—no medical credentials here. But I don't need them to see what's happening. Neither do you. Neither do those who _are_ qualified, including several former Surgeon Generals. You don't have to take my word for it; they've said plenty, including: * Former SG Jerome Adams to NPR:_"Why should we lower the bar for public health?"_ * Former SG Richard Carmona to The Guardian: [Her] nomination is _"a 'disgrace' to the future of America's public health system."_ * Dr. Georges Benjamin, CEO of the American Public Health Association, via NPR:_"She is less qualified professionally than any other surgeon general in history. There's no question about that."_ * The __ Center for Science in the Public Interest, via The 19th: she is _"unqualified,"_ [period]. And, eight medical orgs including the American College of Physicians sent Congress a letter condemning the nomination. This is hardly restoring "public trust in health," RFK's stated desire as Secretary of Health. Just this week, Annenberg Public Policy Center shared their "ASK" survey results (February 2026) that showed American's trust in the CDC, NIH, and FDA has dropped from 75% (under Biden) to 60%, with trust in the info from Secretary Kennedy an abysmal 38% percent, Dr. Oz's reliability, just 42%. In September 2025, when asked who the public trusted for reliable information Dr. Anthony Fauci, (who resigned in 2022!), beat out RFK, 57% to 39%, respectively. Why? Annenberg data also shows American's trust their own Doctors and "Career Scientists" most. Like “Doctor” Means, I did not complete a residency at OHSU. With a BFA and my M.Ed, I _am_ qualified to call B.S. when I see it. Media literacy is my _shtick_. I know a re-brand when I see it. They will continue to package their bad policies, but we know the truth: this will not _Make America Healthy Again_. When were we _all_ healthy? Is MAHA's idea of "again" going back to a time before mRNA vaccines? No thanks. I’ve seen that movie and I have no desire to replay it. There is no decade to pine away for when humanity had more tools at our disposal to fight diseases, live longer, and be well. There's never been a time with more readily available, evidence-based health information, innovative research and life-changing technology than we have right now. I’m not saying trust everyone in the medical community implicitly. I’m saying, trust the science. Trust the research, the medical professionals, especially those who were top of their class and have all their licenses, and are backed by the medical board and the APA. Knowing who to listen in public health is no small matter. Our lives literally depend on it. * * * **I’d love to hear what you think about this.** If healthcare in this country was a movie would it be a comedy, tragedy, or a thriller? _Call me at 555-4444. We’ll talk. No big whoop. Want to leave a comment? 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