Casey Means, a non-practicing med school graduate and medical influencer was nominated back in May to be the US Surgeon General. After her nomination hearing was initially deferred due to her pregnancy, it's now scheduled to be held by the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on 2/25. This is the committee chaired by Bill Cassidy, who was infamously hoodwinked last year by RFK Jr. into believing that RFK wouldn't go after vaccines if confirmed as HHS Secretary. (We all know how well that went!)
Means is a terrible choice for Surgeon General for the following reasons:
She did not complete medical training and is not a practicing clinician
Her perspective of the healthcare system is through the lens of the most privileged people in society. (The wellness company she co-founded provides concierge health coaching for the wealthy worried well.)
Her 2024 book, Good Energy, demonstrates that she is unable to interpret, apply, and even properly cite the medical literature
She has misrepresented her personal origin story
She fails to acknowledge the influence of socioeconomic inequity and public health on individual health - something that is absolutely essential for the Surgeon General
She's demonized birth control, stating among other things that it "interferes with the miracle of life"
She blames infertility on bad personal choices made by women
She is, at the very least, "antivax-adjacent"
It's still not too late to voice opposition to Means' nomination to either your own senators, or to the members of the HELP Committee. Emails & calls would presumably be most effective if your own senator was on the HELP Committee.
The full list of Senators:
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana, Chair
Rand Paul, Kentucky
Susan Collins, Maine
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma
Roger Marshall, Kansas
Tim Scott, South Carolina
Josh Hawley, Missouri
Tommy Tuberville, Alabama
Jim Banks, Indiana
Jon Husted, Ohio
Ashley Moody, Florida
Bernie Sanders, Vermont
Patty Murray, Washington
Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin
Chris Murphy, Connecticut
Tim Kaine, Virginia
Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire
John Hickenlooper, Colorado
Ed Markey, Massachusetts
Andy Kim, New Jersey
Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware
Angela Alsobrooks, Maryland
As to not run afoul of Rule #3, I won't link to any specific petitions or webforms that help semi-automate the letter writing process, but those are a quick Google search away for folks who want to help but who are short on time.