Casey Means’ Surgeon General Confirmation Isn’t A Sure Thing
Two Republican senators on the health committee say they have not decided whether to support the wellness influencer's bid to become the country's top doctor. Three others, including Republican Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, are mum on how they will vote. Plus, others weigh in on the nominee.
Casey Means, President Donald Trumps pick for surgeon general, does not yet have the votes for confirmation following a testy Senate health committee hearing on her nomination Wednesday. Senators of both parties pressed Means on her views about vaccines at the hearing. Means did not commit to promoting them and now has to convince at least two skeptical Republicans to back her nomination: Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who told POLITICO they havent decided how theyll vote. (Levien, Friedman and Paun, 2/26)
Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams is again raising doubts about President Trumps surgeon general nominee Casey Means, arguing she lacks the qualifications needed for the role. As a former U.S. Surgeon General who held an active medical license and practiced medicine while in the role (at Walter Reed and aboard the USS Comfort) it is incomprehensible that the Senate is even considering a nominee for this role who lacks any active license and has never practiced unsupervised, Adams, who served in Trumps first administration, wrote Wednesday on the social platform X. (Brams, 2/26)
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said Wednesday that the focus in Washington on surgeon general nominee Casey Meanss past recommendation for using psilocybin, commonly known as magic mushrooms, is a red herring. Look, no way would I support people taking these psychedelics. I think its its not part of my practice, its nothing that I could recommend. But I think that thats a red herring, again, Marshall, who is a physician, told NewsNations Blake Burman on The Hill. (Suter, 2/26)
More MAHA developments
Americas top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., became an action figure fighting artificial red dye in school lunches on Thursday. Before that, he was transported to a rave by a sip of whole milk. He got a face tattoo to match that of boxer Mike Tyson. He put Santa on a diet and exercise regimen and strolled with a penguin to a soaring organ soundtrack. (Cirruzzo and Payne, 2/27)
Target will require every cereal it sells including national brands to be made without certified synthetic colors by the end of May, the company exclusively told Axios. (Tyko, 2/27)
Other news about flu vaccines, mpox, meningitis B, and measles
For the past week, about 50 flu scientists from around the world have been cramming into a conference room at a Hilton hotel in Istanbul, Turkey. Their goal is to design a flu shot that will confer the best protection for the next flu season starting in the fall of 2026. Each day, they pore over reams of data about how the virus is evolving worldwide, how well last year's shot performed, and which strains might be easiest to mass produce for a vaccine. (Lambert, 2/26)
The antiviral drug tecovirimat (Tpoxx) is no better than placebo in achieving a shorter time to clinical resolution, reduced pain, or increased viral DNA clearance in adults infected with clade 2 mpox virus, per a phase 3 randomized controlledtrial published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. An international roster of investigators in the Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally Study of Tecovirimat for Human Mpox Virus (STOMP/A5418) group randomly assigned 412 participants in a 2:1 ratio to receive either tecovirimat (275 patients) or a placebo (137) for 14 daysfrom September 2022 to October 2024.(Van Beusekom, 2/26)
The four-component meningococcal serogroup B vaccine (4CMenB; Bexsero) did not reduce gonorrhea incidence in high-risk men who have sex with men, according to a randomized trial. (Haelle, 2/26)
A new nonpeer-reviewedstudy estimates that measles outbreaks in the United States cost more than $244 million in 2025 alone and warns that even modest declines in childhood measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination could trigger billions of dollars in additional losses over the next five years. MMR vaccine coverage among US kindergarteners has fallen steadily since the 201920 school year, alongside a national resurgence of measles. In 2025, the United States recorded its highest annual measles count since 1992, at 2,280 cases. (Bergeson, 2/26)
