Casey Means on the Hepatitis B Birth Dose: warns against

Dr. Casey Means posted on social media in 2024 that giving the hepatitis B vaccine to a newborn whose parents do not have hepatitis B was “absolute insanity,” according to Associated Press reporting on her nomination. At her February 25, 2026 Senate hearing, she hedged on the birth dose when pressed by HELP Chair Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Means’s stated reasoning, as far as the reporting establishes, is skepticism toward universal newborn vaccination in the absence of maternal infection — a position that drew some of the sharpest criticism of her nomination, with mainstream medical commentators citing it as evidence she was unfit for the Surgeon General role. The episode illustrates the for-and-against dimension this site covers: her supporters frame the scrutiny as a smear campaign; her critics frame the vaccine positions as disqualifying.

What Means says

• Means posted in 2024 that the hepatitis B birth dose for infants of non-hep-B-positive mothers was “absolute insanity.”
• Means hedged on the birth dose when questioned at her Senate hearing.

All claims above are attributed to Means, drawn from Associated Press reporting; they are presented as her stated position, not established medical fact. This site does not offer medical advice on vaccination.

This page chronicles a stated position of the person above. It is not medical advice and not the site's own conclusion.