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Your health is now in the hands of some worryingly stupid people. Jaws dropped when Trump confirmed that the conspiracy-crazed antivaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr would be his Secretary of Health. I wouldn’t trust the guy to put a sticking plaster on correctly, let alone decide health policy for hundreds of millions of people.
However, as we’re rapidly learning in Trump 2.0, even when things seem nightmarishly bad it can always get worse. Earlier this week Donald Trump unexpectedly announced that he’d ditched Dr Janette Nesheiwat, his initial nominee for Surgeon General, in favor of Dr Casey Means. In a Truth Social post, Trump described her as having “impeccable “MAHA” credentials” and on X Kennedy praised her as “a juggernaut against the ossified medical conventions.”
It’s generally considered that Means was selected purely because she’s in perfect alignment with Kennedy’s bonkers beliefs. She’s firmly antivax, described birth control as “disrespect of life”, and promotes “energy healing”. Heck, she doesn’t even have a medical license and didn’t finish her training!
But wait, it gets worse. In a frankly terrifying statement Means once declared war on… glucose. That’s right, the molecule that fuels energy metabolism in all organisms. She said: “Glucose as a molecule has caused more destruction of the human mind and body than any other substance in human history.”
Glucose as a molecule has caused more destruction of the human mind and body than any other substance in human history.
— Casey Means, MD (@CaseyMeansMD) September 29, 2021
As the stunned replies to this post point out, glucose provides the primary source of energy for the body, and “without it, you’re absolutely dead!” This is the equivalent of Means trying to ban oxygen or water and shows a truly bizarre misunderstanding of how the human body functions.
A little digging indicates Means’ war on glucose may be linked to her company Levels, which sells a “continuous glucose monitor” they market to non-diabetics. A Levels customer on Reddit criticizes it for its “extremely tight range for ‘ideal’ glucose levels”, which, if followed, will “funnel most people into a low-carb/keto-style diet.” Another reply says Levels gave them “so much anxiety about food” even after healthy and nutritious meals. The mood is summed up by a final reply from another customer unhappy they’ve paid “a ton of money for something that doesn’t work and customer service that doesn’t exist. Huge disappointment.”
So, which is worse? Is our next Surgeon General so misinformed she’ll declare war against one of the fundamental substances of all life, or is she willing to say ridiculous things to hawk her extremely questionable medical devices? Let’s face it, neither is good!
It remains to be seen exactly how much damage Kennedy and Means can do to the health of the nation, and we can only hope that individual doctors respect their Hippocratic oath and continue to provide the best care while working around the government’s crazier policies. Even so, now is the time to be making sure you and your family’s vaccines are in order, as who knows if you’ll be able to get them at all in six months’ time?