Dr. Casey Means graduated from medical school with a doctorate, but has no medical license; she was an ENT surgical resident when she decided to quit pursuing being a practicing doctor to instead join the lucrative medical influencer craze.
Instead of having to treat patients, medical influencers usually found "wellness" companies—like Means' company Levels— and write books full of pseudoscience theories about curing incurable diseases—like Means' book Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health co-authored with her brother Calley.
Now that MAGA Republican President Donald Trump has tapped Means—an unlicensed person unable to legally practice medicine, who tells her followers to reject modern medicine, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines—for surgeon general, her social media and online presence is being scrutinized.
Her August 2024 appearance on the Mighty Pursuit podcast gave many people insights into what Means has been selling her followers. Among the usual attacks on science-based medical practices and unsubstantiated claims about the cure-alls and lifestyle programs she pilfers, Means had an interesting take on the definition of "toxic."
Means said:
"I am very, very disturbed by the phrase 'all good things in moderation' because that's been sort of a American staple phrase for decades... now we are so, so, so sick."
"And so when we think about all the things we're choosing to experience in moderation in our world, it's, you know, a little bit of water from a plastic bottle and it's a little bit of Oreos and it's a little bit of that lotion that has a bunch of artificial fragrances in it and a little bit of that deodorant that has aluminum in it and a little bit of this Advil that I take two to three times a month and a little bit of that anti-reflex medication, oh, and I'm going to have a little bit of watching Netflix—it's too much."
"We're applying this principle of moderation, but then we're inundating ourselves with so many inputs that are ultimately toxic."
You can watch the moment here:
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Means' book, newsletter, and wellness business is based on her assertion she can cure diseases that she claims are caused by something she calls "metabolic dysfunction," a notion covered heavily in the over two-hour long Mighty Pursuit podcast.
Means claimed during that interview:
"Alzheimer's, dementia, type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer, heart disease, stroke, depression, anxiety, ADHD, autism, eczema, acne, premature wrinkles, erectile dysfunction, male and female infertility, gout, fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease..."
"...increased risk of infection and death from influenza, covid-19, any bacterial infection, immune suppression like cancer, um, so really each of those has a direct strong link between the physiology of metabolic dysfunction which I talk about in the book."
Means' claim is based on her assertion modern products, creature comforts, and processed foods are all toxic and avoiding them while eating a completely organic diet will cure everything without requiring modern medicine or pharmaceuticals.
However it glaringly ignores the fact the diseases she claims to be able to cure following her methods—by buying her book, subscribing to her newsletter, and buying services from her company—all existed prior to the creation of all the modern "toxins" she claims cause them.
The podcast also features an awkward moment when Means tries to tap dance around why her mother died from pancreatic cancer despite following Means' foolproof prescription for healing cancer.
Like most faith healers, Means' show is entertaining, but the proof of results is non-existent.
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Means is a leader—with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—of the Make America Healthy Again movement. MAHA is the snake oil grift created to appeal to, and primarily profit off, Trump's MAGA minions.
Her brother Calley Means is a lobbyist now serving as a special government employee (SGE) for RFK Jr.'s Health and Human Services (HHS) since 2025. An SGE is an advisor, expert or consultant appointed to work with the federal government without the vetting or confirmation process required for federal employment or appointment to official office.
In edition to Mighty Pursuit, people are also checking out Means' performances on Joe Rogan's and Tucker Carlson's podcasts.
Means told Carlson's audience birth control is overprescribed and signals a "disrespect of life."
Trump admitted Means was picked by RFK Jr.—who he calls Bobby.
On May 8, the day after Trump nominated her, the MAGA leader told reporters:
"Because Bobby thought she was fantastic..."
"Bobby really thought she was great, I don’t know her."
Gordon Pennycook, a Cornell University psychology professor and Himan Brown Faculty Fellow who studies misinformation, said of Trump's surgeon general pick:
"The nomination of Casey Means, a social media ‘wellness influencer,’ is yet another indication of the explicit anti-science stance of the Trump administration."
"Instead of nominating someone who is dedicated to using empirical research to try to improve Americans’ health, we have a nominee who exploits public misunderstandings about health to promote untested ‘alternatives’ for [her own] financial gain."
Means wrote in her newsletter to encourage her followers to withhold vaccines from their children:
"There is growing evidence that the total burden of the current extreme and growing vaccine schedule is causing health declines in vulnerable children."
Two children died unnecessarily of measles in Texas, thanks to unqualified, inaccurate, scientifically-illiterate advice from people like Means. Both children were school-aged and unvaccinated because of their parents' antivaxxer beliefs.
While holding an MD, Means is not trained in immunology, nor has she been involved in any research or studies of almost everything she advises her followers on. But ignorance of facts hasn't stopped her from giving out unsubstantiated health advice to the people who pay to receive her newsletter.
On the heels of the largest global pandemic response in over 100 years, Trump has picked a surgeon general nominee closely allied with a head of public health who swims in sewage-contaminated water and doesn't "believe" in germs, while outbreaks of highly communicable diseases that were controlled for decades by vaccines are on the rise, thanks to ignorant antivaxxers.
What could possibly go wrong?
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