Post Reports Casey Means: A MAHA leader, and the next surgeon general?
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Oct 29, 2025 Lauren Weber, a health and science accountability reporter for The Washington Post, discusses Casey Means, a leading figure in the Make America Healthy Again movement and potential Surgeon General nominee. They explore Means's controversial transition from her medical residency to a health entrepreneur, her claims about metabolic health, and the concerns surrounding her financial ties to health products. Weber highlights the implications of her nomination on American medicine and public health discourse, questioning the balance between innovative ideas and scientific accuracy.
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Surgeon General's Real Influence
- The Surgeon General uses a national bully pulpit to shape public health priorities and issue influential reports.
- The role can't make policy but can set the health agenda and deploy uniformed public health personnel.
Walking Away From A Top Residency
- Casey Means left a top surgical residency in 2018 because she felt disillusioned with surgical incentives.
- She then pursued reform from outside the system, launching a functional-medicine practice.
From Labra Cadabra To Functional Medicine
- Means built a career in functional medicine and promoted lab-driven personalization like 'Labra Cadabra'.
- Critics worry such approaches can lead to over-testing and treatments that lack mainstream evidence.
