Nicole Saphier Named Trump’s Third Surgeon General Pick After Janette Nesheiwat, Casey Means Withdrawn

Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News medical contributor, is Donald Trump’s third pick for US surgeon general after withdrawn nominations for Janette Nesheiwat and Casey Means. The surgeon general role can’t make new laws or regulations, can’t enforce policy and has no budget, but it remains one of the most influential health positions in the nation. The Guardian reports that Art Caplan, a professor of medical ethics at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine and a polio survivor, said Saphier is “almost a lock” to pass her confirmation hearing. MedPage Today adds that Saphier is director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth in Middletown, New Jersey, and that Dana Smetherman, MD, MPH called her a “tireless advocate for women’s health.”

“Just two months before she was selected as President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr”

CNN

Saphier has questioned routine childhood vaccines and other public health measures, and The Guardian says she has cast doubt on the childhood vaccine schedule and public health interventions for Covid. MedPage Today reports that she has questioned aspects of the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule, including the universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, and that she said school COVID-19 vaccination requirements were “a complete disaster.” CNN reports that deleted tweets reviewed by CNN’s KFile show Saphier suggesting the administration was hiding that measles was spreading widely enough for the country to lose its “elimination” status until after the midterm elections. In the same CNN account, Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, said Saphier “will be a powerful asset for President Trump and work tirelessly to deliver on every facet of his MAHA agenda.”

Both The Guardian and MedPage Today describe the surgeon general’s advisory power as recommendations rather than direct control of policy, with The Guardian noting the office “can’t enforce policy and has no budget.” MedPage Today says that if confirmed, Saphier would be empowered to issue advisories that warn of public health threats, while also emphasizing that surgeons general “don’t create vaccine policy.” The Guardian frames the nomination as politically consequential for health messaging, quoting Jerome Adams, the surgeon general under the first Trump administration, saying Saphier is “an exceptionally clear communicator” who is effective at reaching conservative audiences. The Guardian also links the stakes to vaccine communication and measles, quoting Saphier saying, “We have to get back on track,” as measles rose and vaccination rates decreased.

“The new nominee for US surgeon general is an “effective communicator” who appears to be “mainstream enough” to pass confirmation before the US Senate, experts say”

The Guardian