Your piece captures both the scientific and ethical stakes with extraordinary precision.
“Casey Means should not be confirmed as Surgeon General, because she lacks qualifications, promotes pseudoscience, and profits from conflicts of interest.”
“Pseudoscience dressed up as ‘functional medicine’ now threatens to occupy the top levels of U.S. public health leadership.”
Your clarity and rigor are invaluable contributions to public understanding and to the defense of evidence-based medicine.
Like all of the "successful" tradwives on the internet, she does not actually yearn to be a tradwife. She's massively well-resourced. If she actually wanted to be a tradwife, and not a capitalistic juggernaut, she could STFU and get to work feeding her sourdough and making lots and lots of babies with all of the right mitochondria.
The right wing tradwife nonsense is the biggest grift of them all. The most vocal proponents of it are making major bank trying to convince other, poorer (and generally less physically beautiful) women to oppress themselves on behalf of God and 'Murica. See, e.g., Erika Kirk & whatever the name of that annoying blonde press secretary is. Also Katie Britt.
What is astonishing is that, because Calley Means is not in a position necessitating confirmation by the senate, he is not accountable to the ethical standards to which others are held. In effect, he is running a major "wellness grift" right from HHS without any ethical restrains or conflict of interest restraints whatsoever. The second aspect that is equally astonishing is that Means lobbied the GOP senators hard for approval to allow the FSA/HSA pre-taxation system to pay for their wellness-grifting products. They then extended "coverage" to what traditionally & strictly was limited to pure medical spending, now to include exercise wear, club memberships, and other high-end home exercise machines and, of course, outrageously priced "longevity" and "lifestyle" supplements with little to no evidence of documented benefit. Obviously, the "wellness grift" has managed to further extend the disparity of healthcare benefits between those who can and cannot afford the "lavish" secondary benefits of an FSA-driven system, with no other means (pun intended) of continuing to fund it, but by apparently driving up the costs of the monthly premiums relative to the Affordable Care Act. And to then tie it all together - as you discovered - Means will attempt to shame and mock you, which, of course, is nothing but pure projection. These are not good people.
Knockout post as per usual! TBH, I was intrigued by the idea of "respecting" my circadian rhythm -- sounds like it should be respected more eg I should sleep more lol-- but not to the tune of $3700.
This whole era will eventually be recalled as a Russian influence operation that ran wild. Kennedy is unabashedly acting as a Russian asset at this point, both internally to dismantle US policies and externally to support Russian goals in Europe and elsewhere. He’s even making Gabbard look like an amateur at this point.
Do he and his cronies receive shadowy dispatches from the Kremlin to direct their every action. No, of course not. When it becomes clear what The Boss wants, explicit orders are not only not required, the fact that one needs to be told what to do might be viewed as an indication that you might not be enough of a “self-starter” to continue enjoying the Boss’s support.
Kennedy was essentially amplified and empowered by online bots and trolls. He’s not an idiot who simply hasn’t been able to move beyond a 17th century understanding of germs and “bad air”. He knows what conspiracies work to empower him with the financial and social media support that derives from pumping up those conspiracies, regardless the real world outcomes.
He is… in his sincere opinion, the “HE” who will assume the presidency in 2028 or before…once Trump meets that Big Mac with his name on it. He is not going to defer to Vance, though Thiel might have something to say about that. All of Kennedy’s actions are in furtherance of what he genuinely feels to be his birthright to assume power over this nation.
I have personal knowledge of how “Bobby” was planning his future path to power while he was shilling for Teddy during the Alabama campaign. Do not dismiss any aspect of the trail of destruction he is willing to wreak to install himself as President.
Public Health manipulations have LONG been an aspect of international influence ops. The Kennedy School analysis (ironically named, I know…) does a decent job of discussing how Russia currently employs such ops.
Vlad and his boys must be cracking up at how much return they’ve gotten for such a meager investment. Asymmetrical Warfare is one hell of a drug. Especially when it’s this effective at dismantling your opponent.
I love your work, especially when you get to vent on the House of Pod podcast, but that was a hard, hard read. It made me yelp out loud at the 1/3rd point, laugh in disbelief on more than a few occasions, read through fingers over my eyes (OK maybe metaphorically) and wonder how on earth it came to this.
I appreciate your grit in sifting through the shit and will be upgrading as soon as I get a job.
The very minor correction that the PHS and the NOAA Corps are uniformed services but not military services: the Surgeon General is a commissioned officer, not a commissioned military officer.
I read this article 3 times. As I said I was a nurse for 30 yrs. Whats frightening is that some of what they say is happening. We are a sicker country with more chronic illnesses. We do eat too much processed food. They are preying on vulnerable people that want a better quality of life. Unfortunately I'm one of those people. When your life is turned upside down by illness that no Dr can give relief for, people will turn to this scandal. There are some good LICENSED integrative drs that are not quacks! While I recognize the dangers of this brother/sister team, many won't! Our current government is literally going to kill people as they rob us.
Thank you again, Dr. Rasmussen.
Your piece captures both the scientific and ethical stakes with extraordinary precision.
“Casey Means should not be confirmed as Surgeon General, because she lacks qualifications, promotes pseudoscience, and profits from conflicts of interest.”
“Pseudoscience dressed up as ‘functional medicine’ now threatens to occupy the top levels of U.S. public health leadership.”
Your clarity and rigor are invaluable contributions to public understanding and to the defense of evidence-based medicine.
Like all of the "successful" tradwives on the internet, she does not actually yearn to be a tradwife. She's massively well-resourced. If she actually wanted to be a tradwife, and not a capitalistic juggernaut, she could STFU and get to work feeding her sourdough and making lots and lots of babies with all of the right mitochondria.
The right wing tradwife nonsense is the biggest grift of them all. The most vocal proponents of it are making major bank trying to convince other, poorer (and generally less physically beautiful) women to oppress themselves on behalf of God and 'Murica. See, e.g., Erika Kirk & whatever the name of that annoying blonde press secretary is. Also Katie Britt.
What a load of crap.
What is astonishing is that, because Calley Means is not in a position necessitating confirmation by the senate, he is not accountable to the ethical standards to which others are held. In effect, he is running a major "wellness grift" right from HHS without any ethical restrains or conflict of interest restraints whatsoever. The second aspect that is equally astonishing is that Means lobbied the GOP senators hard for approval to allow the FSA/HSA pre-taxation system to pay for their wellness-grifting products. They then extended "coverage" to what traditionally & strictly was limited to pure medical spending, now to include exercise wear, club memberships, and other high-end home exercise machines and, of course, outrageously priced "longevity" and "lifestyle" supplements with little to no evidence of documented benefit. Obviously, the "wellness grift" has managed to further extend the disparity of healthcare benefits between those who can and cannot afford the "lavish" secondary benefits of an FSA-driven system, with no other means (pun intended) of continuing to fund it, but by apparently driving up the costs of the monthly premiums relative to the Affordable Care Act. And to then tie it all together - as you discovered - Means will attempt to shame and mock you, which, of course, is nothing but pure projection. These are not good people.
Knockout post as per usual! TBH, I was intrigued by the idea of "respecting" my circadian rhythm -- sounds like it should be respected more eg I should sleep more lol-- but not to the tune of $3700.
I have one of the most disrespected Circadian rhythms of all time. Probably why my mitochondria give me so much trouble.
Dr. Rasmussen, your comparison to the movie flowers in the attic is alarming & unfortunatley very accurate!
This whole era will eventually be recalled as a Russian influence operation that ran wild. Kennedy is unabashedly acting as a Russian asset at this point, both internally to dismantle US policies and externally to support Russian goals in Europe and elsewhere. He’s even making Gabbard look like an amateur at this point.
Do he and his cronies receive shadowy dispatches from the Kremlin to direct their every action. No, of course not. When it becomes clear what The Boss wants, explicit orders are not only not required, the fact that one needs to be told what to do might be viewed as an indication that you might not be enough of a “self-starter” to continue enjoying the Boss’s support.
Kennedy was essentially amplified and empowered by online bots and trolls. He’s not an idiot who simply hasn’t been able to move beyond a 17th century understanding of germs and “bad air”. He knows what conspiracies work to empower him with the financial and social media support that derives from pumping up those conspiracies, regardless the real world outcomes.
He is… in his sincere opinion, the “HE” who will assume the presidency in 2028 or before…once Trump meets that Big Mac with his name on it. He is not going to defer to Vance, though Thiel might have something to say about that. All of Kennedy’s actions are in furtherance of what he genuinely feels to be his birthright to assume power over this nation.
I have personal knowledge of how “Bobby” was planning his future path to power while he was shilling for Teddy during the Alabama campaign. Do not dismiss any aspect of the trail of destruction he is willing to wreak to install himself as President.
Public Health manipulations have LONG been an aspect of international influence ops. The Kennedy School analysis (ironically named, I know…) does a decent job of discussing how Russia currently employs such ops.
Vlad and his boys must be cracking up at how much return they’ve gotten for such a meager investment. Asymmetrical Warfare is one hell of a drug. Especially when it’s this effective at dismantling your opponent.
https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/clarity-for-friends-confusion-for-foes-russian-vaccine-propaganda-in-ukraine-and-serbia/
Dear Dr Rasmussen,
I love your work, especially when you get to vent on the House of Pod podcast, but that was a hard, hard read. It made me yelp out loud at the 1/3rd point, laugh in disbelief on more than a few occasions, read through fingers over my eyes (OK maybe metaphorically) and wonder how on earth it came to this.
I appreciate your grit in sifting through the shit and will be upgrading as soon as I get a job.
Super information!! Thanks
Word on the streets is that RFK Jr is leaving. God help this country if Casey slides into his seat.
Not a medical expert but I know BS when so plainly exhibited…..wtf
The very minor correction that the PHS and the NOAA Corps are uniformed services but not military services: the Surgeon General is a commissioned officer, not a commissioned military officer.
I read this article 3 times. As I said I was a nurse for 30 yrs. Whats frightening is that some of what they say is happening. We are a sicker country with more chronic illnesses. We do eat too much processed food. They are preying on vulnerable people that want a better quality of life. Unfortunately I'm one of those people. When your life is turned upside down by illness that no Dr can give relief for, people will turn to this scandal. There are some good LICENSED integrative drs that are not quacks! While I recognize the dangers of this brother/sister team, many won't! Our current government is literally going to kill people as they rob us.