Investigation reveals 'messy' online money-making schemes of Trump admin pick
Dr. Casey Means, President Donald Trump's nominee for surgeon general and an advocate of RFK Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" movement, admits that her money-making ventures as an online influencer can appear "messy," according to The Associated Press.
In an article about Means's online money-making schemes, the AP quoted the unlicensed doctor as acknowledging that allowing supplement companies to sponsor her 200,000-subscriber strong newsletter can create questionable optics.
“I do understand how it’s messy," Means admitted on a recent podcast.
The article stated that even "as Means has criticized scientists, medical schools and regulators for taking money from the food and pharmaceutical industries, she has promoted dozens of health and wellness products — including specialty basil seed supplements, a blood testing service and a prepared meal delivery service — in ways that put money in her own pocket."
The AP noted that Means, "who has carved out a niche in the wellness industry," has "set up deals with an array of businesses" that allow her to cash in on her popularity among the alternative medicine crowd.
The article claimed that Means has flouted federal transparency rules, at times failing "to disclose that she could profit or benefit in other ways from sales of products she recommends. In some cases, she promoted companies in which she was an investor or adviser without consistently disclosing the connection, the AP found."
The article quoted experts who "raise concerns about conflicting interests for an aspiring surgeon general, a role responsible for giving Americans the best scientific information on how to improve their health."
Ethics watchdog Jeff Hauser told the AP, “I fear that she will be cultivating her next employers and her next sponsors or business partners while in office."
President Trump faced "immediate backlash" after announcing Means's nomination in May following the withdrawal of his original pick, former Fox News contributor Dr. Jeanette Nesheiwat.
According to The New York Times, Means is a Stanford-educated physician who dropped out of her surgical residency program to co-found a digital health start-up company.