Trump picks conspiracy theorist 'wellness influencer' with no medical license as Surgeon General

US president Donald Trump has made a predictably controversial pick for the job as Surgeon General, and they don’t even have a medical license.

Dr Casey Means is a conspiracy theorist and a self-appointed Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) “wellness influencer” who has been selected, despite not holding a current license to practice medicine.

Dubbed the “Nation’s Doctor”, the Surgeon General “provides Americans with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health," according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Means completed her initial medical education at Stanford University, but dropped out of an ear, nose and throat residency program at the University of Oregon.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was selecting Means, who is a practitioner of “functional medicine”, and cited her “impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials”.

He claimed Means would “work closely” with health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr (who is himself a vaccine sceptic), “to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans”.

The choice comes not long after Trump backtracked on his original pick for the role, former Fox News contributor, Dr Janette Nesheiwat, just days before going to the U.S. Senate for a confirmation hearing.

This was due to perceived controversy among MAGA supporters over her advocacy for the Covid-19 vaccination, which they deemed made her “unfit” for the job. The Covid-19 vaccine is estimated to have saved millions of lives around the world.

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