Surgeon general nominee dodges vaccine questions

What happened

Dr. Casey Means, the wellness influencer and author tapped by President Donald Trump to be U.S. surgeon general, told the Senate Health Committee Wednesday that her main focus as the nation’s top doctor would be fighting “preventable chronic disease.” When pressed, she declined to recommend that parents vaccinate their kids against measles or the flu, agreed with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s decision to stop advising hepatitis B shots at birth and suggested it was not “settled” science that vaccines don’t cause autism.

Who said what

Means stayed “largely unruffled” as she “found common ground with many senators” on steering Americans away from ultra-processed foods and “dodged most questions” about vaccines, birth control, pesticides and her finances, The Washington Post said. Financial disclosure forms show that Means “made hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting wellness products” but “at times failed to disclose that she could profit or benefit from the sales,” The Associated Press said. She told senators “she takes conflicts of interest seriously.”

If confirmed, White House officials “expect Means to play a prominent role cheerleading Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement,” The Wall Street Journal said. “Past surgeon generals’ warnings have shifted public opinion on smoking, drunken driving and more.” But it’s a “precarious time for the MAHA movement,” The New York Times said. The White House wants Kennedy to “pivot away from discussing vaccines” toward his more popular “healthy eating agenda,” and Trump’s executive order “promoting production of the weedkiller glyphosate” has “infuriated the so-called MAHA moms.”

What next?

The Republican-controlled committee “seems poised” to approve her nomination, sending it to the full Senate, the Times said, but “it was unclear whether Dr. Means would win any Democratic support.”