Trump's new surgeon general under fire over explosive autism remarks... and embrace of spiritual healing

Experts person raised concerns astir America's caller apical doc prime implicit arguable comments she has made astir topics specified arsenic autism and vaccines.

President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced Wednesday helium replaced his archetypal nominee for the relation of US Surgeon General, Dr Janette Nesheiwat, with Dr Casey Means, a Stanford-trained doc and ally of wellness caput Robert F Kennedy Jr. 

She has echoed galore of RFK's much arguable stances, including that autism whitethorn beryllium caused by puerility vaccines, a presumption she shared connected a caller Joe Rogan podcast episode.

Doctors told DailyMail.com Means is 'grossly underqualified' — she is 1 of lone a fistful of surgeons wide to not person an progressive aesculapian licence and is the lone 1 to person not finished her afloat aesculapian training. 

Means has besides touted the benefits of spiritual meditation and vigor healing and has described commencement power arsenic a 'disrespect of life.' 

However, her information has sparked mixed opinions, with immoderate wellness experts praising her Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) ideals similar stripping artificial additives retired of the nutrient supply arsenic 'bringing attention' to wellness risks of ultraprocessed foods.

Dr Michael Ednie, aesculapian manager of Bespoke Concierge successful Florida, told DailyMail.com: 'If her past comments commencement to signifier policy, particularly astir vaccines oregon nationalist wellness recommendations, I’d beryllium concerned. We request enactment that builds trust, not controversy.

'In my experience, there’s country to situation the system, but you inactive person to basal connected coagulated objective evidence. I’m not definite she ever does that.'

Means has been criticized arsenic underqualified for the surgeon wide presumption due to the fact that she failed to decorativeness her residency. This is simply a four-year grooming programme doctors implicit aft aesculapian school.

She trained astatine the University of Oregon arsenic an otolaryngologist - ear, chemoreceptor and pharynx doc - but dropped retired successful her last year. 

Doctors who don't decorativeness residency are inactive licensed physicians, but they mostly aren't capable to signifier medicine independently unless they are licensed successful 1 of six states: Missouri, Arizona, Florida, Washington, Arkansas oregon Utah. 

Means has claimed she stopped her grooming to absorption connected 'root-cause solution medicine' and signifier functional medicine, a signifier of alternate medicine often scrutinized arsenic pseudoscience. 

She presently has nary progressive aesculapian licence successful immoderate state. 

Dr Ednie told this website: 'Casey Means failed to implicit her postgraduate residency grooming successful otolaryngologist, has an inactive aesculapian licence and is legally prohibited from practicing medicine. 

'She is simply a "wellness" entrepreneur without immoderate nationalist wellness grooming oregon credentials. 

'Her information arsenic surgeon wide volition worsen distrust successful healthcare and erode evidence-based science.'

An progressive licence is not legally required to go surgeon general, however, and  4 different radical successful the relation didn't person 1 erstwhile they were appointed.

There person been 22 surgeons wide truthful acold since the presumption was established successful 1871. 

The US surgeon wide acts arsenic the starring spokesperson for nationalist wellness successful the national authorities and is wide considered 'America's Doctor.' 

The relation involves advising the president and HHS caput connected matters specified arsenic emerging wellness threats (like pandemics oregon illness outbreaks), tobacco, cause use, and intelligence wellness and nationalist wellness campaigns, including vaccination and nutrition.

Dr Tyler B Evans, CEO and co-founder of Wellness and Equity Alliance, told DailyMail.com nominating a surgeon wide with nary progressive aesculapian license 'undermines the bequest of generations of nationalist wellness experts who person grounded their enactment successful rigorous subject and moved medicine guardant for the payment of all.'

'Appointing a 37-year aged media property with nary nonstop diligent attraction acquisition to this relation diminishes the integrity of the office, disrespects the work of thousands of Commissioned Corps officers, and yet shortchanges the American radical astatine a clip erstwhile strong, grounds based enactment is urgently needed.' 

A White House spokesperson told DailyMail.com successful a statement: 'Over 77 cardinal Americans resoundingly re-elected President Trump to smash our country’s breached presumption quo and reconstruct American Greatness – and that includes Making America Healthy Again. 

'Dr. Casey Means has the perfect equilibrium of elite credentials without the baggage of being beholden to a corrupt healthcare strategy that has profited from America’s chronic illness epidemic. 

'Dr. Means volition beryllium a captious plus for President Trump to Make America Healthy Again arsenic our adjacent surgeon general.'

Much similar her state RFK Jr, Means is besides skeptical astir vaccines.

Earlier this year, the CDC, which operates nether Kennedy, announced plans to survey whether vaccines similar the MMR changeable for measles could origin autism, contempt much than 2 decades of probe disproving the theory. 

While Means has not explicitly blamed immoderate 1 vaccine, she said connected a October occurrence of The Joe Rogan Experience: 'I stake that 1 vaccine isn't causing autism, but what astir the 20 that [children are] getting earlier 18 months?'

Dr Michael Aziz, an attending doc astatine Lenox Hill Hospital successful New York City, told DailyMail.com determination is nary grounds that vaccines origin autism and that the 'medical assemblage arsenic a whole' has 'rejected' the idea. 

Dr Aziz told this website: 'While her presumption connected galore wellness issues are valid, unorthodox views tin beryllium dangerous. Wrong views not based connected subject tin pb parents not to fto their children to marque vaccines and endanger their children's lives.'  

Means has besides called vaccine mandates 'criminal' and expressed concerns astir the information of the Covid mRNA vaccines.

She wrote successful a station connected X: ‘Humans are ne'er forced oregon coerced into taking oregon being exposed to experimental drugs, shots, oregon chemicals with ZERO agelong word information oregon cumulative vulnerability data.'

Dr Barbara Sparacino, an big and geriatric psychiatrist successful Florida, told DailyMail.com: 'In a state wherever vaccine assurance is already fragile, particularly pursuing the politicization of COVID-19, the surgeon wide indispensable beryllium a clear, unshakable dependable of science. 

'That includes defending the overwhelming assemblage of grounds that vaccines are safe, effective, and indispensable for nationalist health—not questioning them based connected anecdote oregon ideology.'

Dave Asprey, a biotech entrepreneur and writer of 'Heavily Medicated,' connected the different end, praised Means' skeptical approach.

He told DailyMail.com: 'Dr Means is going deeper and looking astatine the existent situation that includes our nutrient and different immune exposures.'

Means has besides travel nether occurrence for her enactment arsenic a wellness influencer, which has progressive promoting vigor healing, meditation shrines and tools similar continuous glucose monitors for non-diabetics. 

Dr Sparacino said: 'Her level is not built solely connected dependable nationalist wellness messaging. Dr Means has promoted costly biohacking tools, wellness trackers, and proprietary supplements—many of which are sold done companies she co-founded oregon advises. 

'This includes continuous glucose monitors marketed to the wide colonisation without diabetes, arsenic good arsenic high-end supplements and specialty foods that are often acold retired of scope for mundane Americans. 

'While these tools whitethorn payment a niche wellness audience, they hazard reinforcing a troubling message: that wellness is for the wealthy, the tech-savvy, and the already well. That's not nationalist wellness - that's marketing.'

Doctors speaking to DailyMail.com did, however, praise Means for repeatedly drafting attraction to the increasing wellness concerns surrounding ultraprocessed foods, which marque up 70 percent of the US nutrient supply. 

Last week, a survey estimated ultraprocessed foods straight lend to 120,000 premature deaths each year.  

And probe published Wednesday suggested ultraprocessed foods whitethorn harm neurons successful the encephalon and pb to early symptoms of Parkinson's disease. 

Means said astatine a Senate circular array lawsuit past year: 'American wellness is getting destroyed. If the existent trends continue, if the graphs proceed successful the mode that they're going, astatine champion we're going to face profound societal instability and decreased American competitiveness, and astatine worst, we’re going to beryllium looking astatine a genocidal-level wellness collapse.'

Means has voiced enactment of serving much nutritious meals successful nationalist schools and stripping dyes and additives retired of the nutrient supply, overmuch similar RFK Jr. 

Dr Ednie said: 'I’ll springiness her recognition — she’s brought attraction to the interaction of nutrient and manner successful a mode astir doctors don’t.'

Additionally, Dr Sparacino noted means has 'amplified the speech astir however ultraprocessed foods lend to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, particularly successful communities with constricted entree to fresh, affordable food. 

'This is not controversial—it’s science. We request much enactment successful this area, not less,' she added. 

However, Dr Evans believes if Means is appointed, it volition 'further erode the already fragile assurance Americans person successful our nationalist wellness and aesculapian institutions.

He said: 'By elevating figures who beforehand pseudoscience implicit those with real-world objective expertise and nationalist service, some RFK Jr. and Donald Trump are actively undermining the foundations of evidence-based wellness attraction that Americans person agelong depended connected and taken pridefulness in. 

'This is not leadership. It is simply a betrayal of the precise principles that specify liable governance and nationalist trust.'