WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump said Thursday he鈥檚 nominating former Fox 草莓传媒 Channel contributor and radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier for surgeon general after Dr. Casey Means鈥� path forward stalled in the Senate over questions about her experience and her stance on vaccines.
In a social media post, Trump said he would nominate Saphier, whom he called 鈥渁 STAR physician who has spent her career guiding women facing breast cancer through their diagnosis and treatment.鈥�
Saphier is a radiologist and director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth, according to her profile on the New York-based institution鈥檚 website. She has a doctor of medicine degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados along with fellowships at the Mayo Clinic, the profile said.
The withdrawal came after between Means and lawmakers of both parties threw into question whether she could secure enough votes to advance out of the Senate health committee.
Her nomination had languished since her confirmation hearing in late February, even as activists from the Make America Healthy Again movement orchestrated a push to support her bid by surging phone calls to Republican senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. They had both indicated reservations with the pick.
In nominating Means last May, Trump sought to hire a close ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the nation鈥檚 doctor. The 38-year-old Means, a Stanford-education physician who became disillusioned with the health care system and pivoted to a career as an author and entrepreneur, popular with the MAHA movement, including that Americans are overmedicalized and that diet and lifestyle changes should be at the center of efforts to end widespread chronic disease.
But Means, who did not finish her surgical residency program and doesn鈥檛 currently have an active medical license, also had faced scrutiny for her lack of experience and . On top of those concerns, senators grilled her in February about Kennedy鈥檚 wide-ranging pullback of vaccine recommendations 鈥� leading to some contentious moments as Means toed the line between support for vaccines and calling them a decision best made by patients and their doctors.
In her confirmation hearing, Means was repeatedly asked about the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped recommending for all children late last year in a move . Means has raised doubts about the birth dose, posting on social media in 2024 that giving the vaccine to a newborn whose parents don鈥檛 have hepatitis B was 鈥渁bsolute insanity.鈥�
In another post earlier Thursday, Trump called Means 鈥渁 strong MAHA Warrior鈥� and also criticized the 鈥渋ntransigence and political games鈥� from GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who is facing a tough reelection this year and who interrogated Means about vaccines during the hearing.
Means is the second U.S. surgeon general pick whose nomination has been withdrawn in Trump鈥檚 second term. Trump withdrew his first nominee, Fox 草莓传媒 medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat, after questions were raised about her academic credentials.
In at least one case, Saphier has diverted from Trump鈥檚 medical messaging. Last year, as Trump advised pregnant women, 鈥淒on鈥檛 take Tylenol鈥� 鈥� promoting between the medication, vaccines and autism 鈥� Saphier said that while pregnant women generally are advised to take acetaminophen only under medical supervision, when necessary and at the lowest effective dose, equally important 鈥� and missing from Trump鈥檚 message 鈥� was that untreated fever or severe pain can also pose serious risks to mothers and babies.
鈥淔or decades, women have endured a paternalistic tone in medicine. We鈥檝e moved past dismissing symptoms as 鈥榟ysteria,鈥欌�� Saphier wrote in an email to The Associated Press. 鈥淭he President鈥檚 recent comments on Tylenol in pregnancy are a prime example. Advising moderation was sound; delivering it in a patronizing, simplistic way was not.鈥�
Means and Saphier did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services referred inquiries to the White House.
___ Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.
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