Trump’s atypical surgeon general pick faces Senate scrutiny: Key takeaways

 https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5755656-casey-means-senate-confirmation-hearing-takeaways/

After months of delay, President Trump’s nominee for U.S. surgeon general, Casey Means, appeared before the Senate, facing intense questions over her qualifications, personal health care practices and career as a social media influencer.

Means would be an unprecedented pick, not having completed her medical residency or having an active medical license. She is the sister of White House senior adviser Calley Means, one of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s top advisers, and a prominent “Make America Healthy Again” influencer in her own right.

As with many of Trump’s health nominees, senators on both sides of the aisle zeroed in on Means’s views on vaccinations. Means sought to characterize her previous rhetoric about vaccines to be more about informed consent rather than questioning vaccine efficacy.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the HELP Committee, asked whether Means would encourage mothers to get their children vaccinated against measles, given the ongoing measles outbreaks across the country and the U.S. poised to lose its measles elimination status.

When pressed by Cassidy, however, Means declined to say if she’d encourage other mothers to get their children vaccinated against measles.