Trump’s pick for surgeon general dodges vaccine questions at Senate hearing

Critics concerned as Casey Means, aligned with RFK Jr on vaccine stance, does not have active medical license

Casey Means, Donald Trump's controversial nominee for US surgeon general, appeared before the Senate health committee on Wednesday for a twohour hearing in which she defended her medical credentials, side-stepped direct questions on vaccine guidance, and blamed the country's chronicdisease burden on ultraprocessed foods, industrial chemical exposure, lack of physical activity, chronic stress and loneliness, and overmedicalization".

As the nation's prospective top doctor, Means would be responsible for communicating federal publichealth guidance. In her opening remarks, she said Americans were angry, exhausted and hurting from preventable diseases" and called for a great national healing". Her hearing was postponed in October, after she went into labor hours before she was scheduled to testify.