Influencers, Profits, and Big Wellness: The Problem With MAHA
By Nishita Nekkanti
“Make America Healthy Again,” also known as “MAHA” or Robert F. Kennedy’s personal project as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, has gained significant recognition in recent years with backing from the conservative right-wing. Now, it has entered mainstream circles and its anti-scientific policy efforts and messaging pose considerable danger to the American people.
MAHA leaders have at times spread blatant misinformation about scientifically tested medications. By doing so, they are preying on the countless people who, rightfully, feel taken advantage of by corporate interests and an unsupportive health insurance industry. However, as they “sympathize” with this voter base, they are simultaneously marketing their own underregulated health treatments and services as viable alternatives, which ultimately generates profit for them but undermines public health.
Dr. Casey Means is one of the most prominent examples. As both a well-known health influencer and co-founder of her own wellness company, Levels, she is a major voice in Big Wellness – a trillion-dollar sector of the healthcare industry that promotes lifestyle and self-care products like nutritional supplements that are largely underregulated.
But with limited or sometimes dubious scientific evidence of the efficacy of these products, which are even known to occasionally flout advice of medical experts, this industry poses a serious public health risk by widely publicizing its own distorted views of medicine.
Dr. Casey Means has not only been profiting from Big Wellness, but also may be doing so in ways that run afoul of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules on influencer marketing. She is under suspicion of having failed to disclose sponsorship relations 79 out of the 140 times she promoted wellness products for financial gain. Public Citizen concurrently submitted a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) calling for an investigation into Dr. Casey Means to determine if she has violated FTC policy.
Now, despite her substantial conflicts of interest as the Chief Health Officer of a metabolic testing company that may benefit from Secretary Kennedy’s promotion, she is a nominee for US Surgeon General.
Calley Means, Dr. Means’ brother, is also a leading figure in the wellness industry who, as Senior HHS advisor to Secretary Kennedy, uses his platforms to promote unproven and dangerous health information. He additionally founded his own company, TrueMed[1], which relies on a business model that has faced scrutiny for potential regulatory issues.
These big MAHA names are attempting to overhaul and undermine mainstream medical professionals in favor of their own unproven wellness products, in some cases replacing evidence-based care with dubious profit-driven alternatives. Without stronger oversight and accountability, this movement will continue to promote potentially dangerous claims about public health, threatening the wellness of everyday Americans.
[1] TrueMed is a company that enables consumers to use Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA) pre-tax funds to pay for eligible health and wellness products.