Key takeaways:
- Casey Means, MD, is no longer in the running for surgeon general.
- The president has now nominated radiologist and Fox News contributor Nicole B. Saphier, MD.
Nicole B. Saphier, MD, has replaced Casey Means, MD, as the president’s nominee for surgeon general after months of a stalled process.
As Healio previously reported, Means was a controversial pick for the nation’s doctor. Despite graduating from the Stanford School of Medicine, Means is not board certified, as she did not complete her residency, and her medical license is inactive. She now works as a wellness influencer in the Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) online space.
In late February, Means appeared in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), where she was grilled on key issues, including her stance on hepatitis B vaccinations, conflicts of interest and more. Several key voters in the committee did not indicate whether they would vote for Means, and the process has been stalled since the nomination hearing.
The change
On his Truth Social platform, President Donald J. Trump wrote that the HELP Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD, R-La., who asked Means about informed consent at her nomination hearing in February and is typically considered a swing vote in these proceedings, “has stood in the way of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Nominee, Casey Means, for the important position of U.S. Surgeon General. I nominated Casey, a strong MAHA Warrior, at the recommendation of Secretary Kennedy,” Trump wrote. “Casey will continue to fight for MAHA on the many important Health issues facing our Country, such as the rising childhood disease epidemic, increased autism rates, poor nutrition, over-medicalization, and researching the root causes of infertility, and many other difficult medical problems.”
In a separate post, Trump announced that Saphier, a radiologist and director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Monmouth, is his new pick for surgeon general.
“Nicole is a STAR physician who has spent her career guiding women facing breast cancer through their diagnosis and treatment while tirelessly advocating to increase early cancer detection and prevention, while at the same time working with men and women on all other forms of cancer diagnoses and treatments,” Trump wrote. “She is also an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans.”
Saphier ‘will clear the hurdle’
Arthur L. Caplan, PhD, a professor and founding head of the division of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told Healio he was unsurprised by the news.
“Means was never going to make it. She simply lacked the qualifications, had no real respect from the medical community because she never had finished her residency and fellowship, really hadn’t practiced in any setting, and that, for the surgeon general, is just a huge obstacle. She was not convincing in her testimony about conflict of interests and the products that she was selling,” Caplan said.
But the biggest obstacle for Means was that she “did not come across as an effective communicator,” Caplan said.
“The important thing about the surgeon general is that they be a good communicator. Normally, that aspect of who’s going to serve in health roles in government, it’s important, but it’s not as important as it is for the surgeon general, because the surgeon general actually doesn’t control anything, can’t enforce anything … They’re almost like the nation’s chief medical nag to be healthy, or to do healthy things, or to translate information.”
Caplan said Saphier is “a real physician, a real radiologist” who has practiced, so “she will clear the hurdle about being a legitimate physician easily.
“I think she’ll pass the communication test, too. She’s been involved with Fox News and social media. I’ve actually seen her a few times talking, and I think she’s a very effective communicator,” he said. “I’ve met her once or twice. I think she’s a very nice, bright person. She’s not going to be hostile as a default. I think she will be willing to engage and communicate.”
Caplan said she “may get into trouble with her views about wellness” since she “has been known to promote some things that are dubious,” like tinctures and herbal medicines — “but not to the degree” that Means did.
“She doesn’t have the same degree of conflicts. I’ll make a prediction: she’s going to sail through. She will be the surgeon general,” he said. “I certainly don’t agree with her on many things. She’s a little lukewarm on COVID vaccination and that sort of stuff, whereas I’m much more pro. But I think, again, [she is] someone who will fill the role much, much better than Means would have.”
For more information:
Arthur L. Caplan, PhD, can be reached at primarycare@healio.com.
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