Talk:Casey Means

Medical doctor?

She completed an MD degree but dropped out of residency. Is she a proper medical doctor or not? What are the rules in the US about this? 77.127.213.3 (talk) 11:49, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

The question is: who is a physician?

Is this someone who graduated with a medical degree? Cause she did.

Is this someone who practices medicine? She practices "medicine" but has no license, therefore right to do this.

I think she is a medical graduate, not a physician. Being a physician means to legally practice medicine. It's an occupation and she's "just" a graduate of medicine but is not practicing it or is practicing it without legal basis (license). Kowalmistrz (talk) 12:19, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

She is an unlicensed physician, like Jay Bhattacharya. According to the American Medical Association, a physician is someone who graduated medical school. But I think it's always important to specify if someone is unlicensed and not treating patients. ScienceFlyer (talk) 14:18, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

You get your license after 1 year of residency. 96.65.253.18 (talk) 00:45, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

She is a medical doctor, a licensed physician. She spent 4 years as a surgical resident. You only need 1 year for a license and 3 years for a board certification as a surgeon. Other programs are longer, for example neurological surgeons require 7 years. However, residencies aren’t the brain work, that’s what your MD is for, residencies are the monkey work. Doing surgeries over and over hands-on until your as good at them as your are tying your shoe. You know how to do them when you enter, you’re experienced in doing them when you exit. It’s like changing a tire, we all know how to do it, but it’s not something anyone is very good at unless they do it for a living. 96.65.253.18 (talk) 00:44, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

She completed her internship, second residency (3-years), and passed the USMLE, which means she has a MD license and can practice medicine and perform surgery. She dropped out of her 3rd residency which would have given her a 5th year and allowed her to get a board-certification for a specialty in Otolaryngology surgery. It doesn't mean she can't perform surgery, she can and is fully licensed to do so, it just means she doesn't have an Otolaryngology certification.

She's had a PG-MD license since 2014, and a full MD license since 2018, her license number is MD191266. It's labelled inactive, but that just means she hasn't formerly practiced medicine at an institution in Oregon, however it's still full effective with no restrictions or actions until January 1st, 2026. According to the Oregon Medical Board, her MD License (Medical Doctor), means:

"A doctor of medicine (allopathic) is licensed to practice medicine, prescribe medications, perform surgery, and utilize any of a number of recognized modalities of therapy in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, illness, injury, and physical conditions. Medical doctors utilize knowledge gained in the western tradition of scientific study, observation, and experimentation, including anatomy, cellular biology, chemistry, and other areas. In Oregon, an MD's scope of practice also includes the practice of acupuncture."

So, yes, she is a physician and a medical doctor fully licensed and that license is currently in full effect through December 31, 2025. Now if she doesn't renew it, it will be expired on Jan 1st, 2026, but until that point, she's a licensed medical doctor. OnePercent (talk) 03:26, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

According to the Oregon Medical Board, her license (MD191266) is inactive. 75.164.19.20 (talk) 05:29, 30 May 2025 (UTC)

Not true, she only has a "limited license" as an MD Postgraduate. It is only granted for five years and can only be used in an approved training program (https://www.oregon.gov/omb/Licensing/Pages/License-Definitions.aspx). She must finish her residency in order to become fully licensed as an MD in Oregon. She has never independently practiced medicine, written prescriptions, etc. As a resident, she was always required to work supervised by a fully licensed and practicing physician. Her Limited License as an MD Postgraduate was only valid from 06/2014-7/2019. She dropped out during her 5th year of residency while studying to be an ENT aka Otolaryngologist. Her Limited License was last placed on inactive status in 01/01/2026. The Oregon Medical Board only shows the current inactive status. It does not show her previous inactive statuses, but every two years, she must re-submit her inactive status. Her Limited License ended on 7/31/2019, and she has had no other licenses. SHE WAS NEVER FULLY LICENSED! She has been INACTIVE since at least 2019 She started her business, Means Health, in 2019 but failed to renew the business license in 2021. So, that experience practicing Functional Medicine was very short-lived. (https://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=2031477&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE). LEVELS Health Inc, that she lists in her bio, was only an active entity in Oregon from 2020-2024 (https://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=2122719&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE). She also lists in her LEVELS bio, that she left LEVELS Health Inc. in late 2023 (https://www.levels.com/blog/author/caseymeans?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=branded-search&utm_content=131122&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18755524983&gbraid=0AAAAAonz2GZ6OeDJ3wHrgoXUNtPX7DAiS&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4a3OBhCHARIsAChaqJPGlik_pirhrq9zVLpXt2gQWjQWTNH_lO8vBtGzUh7iveAJ0LHhUU0aAgppEALw_wcB). This Wikipedia article and her bio state that she served as Chief Medical Officer for LEVELS, but that could be a potential legal gray area. She does not have an active license and it would be illegal for her to advise on device safety, treatments, patient care or supervise clinical work vs business development and logistics, which would not be illegal. Additionally, she can face disciplinary action for calling herself a medical doctor or practicing medicine without an active medical license. It does not matter if she holds a doctoral degree. In some states it is a felony. ~2026-20062-81 (talk) 06:48, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Medical Doctor (MD) is a degree. Those who graduate and earn their MD degree are medical doctors. This doesn't require the individual to practice.— Preceding unsigned comment added by WCNo47 (talk • contribs) 15:00, May 8, 2025 (UTC)

She can be referred to as a physician or medical doctor. According to the American Medical Association, policy H-405.969: Our American Medical Association affirms that a physician is an individual who has received a "Doctor of Medicine" or a "Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine" degree or an equivalent degree following successful completion of a prescribed course of study from a school of medicine or osteopathic medicine. "Definition of a Physician". AMA-ASSN.ORG. Retrieved 2025-05-10.

https://policysearch.ama-assn.org/policyfinder/detail/H-405.969?uri=%2FAMADoc%2FHOD.xml-0-3589.xml — Preceding unsigned comment added by WCNo47 (talk • contribs) 20:01, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

It does not matter what AMA states is a definition of a medical doctor. This is regulated by individual state's medical board. The Oregon Medical Board requires the doctor to have graduated with a doctoral degree in the field of practice AND be licensed to practice in that particular health care profession or be working under a board-approved residency contract under the supervision of a licensed physician. See ORS 676.110. ~2026-20062-81 (talk) 07:26, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Let's all pretend that someone not currently licensed to practice medicine is still a physician. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:201:8000:4cf:2c6c:b9dd:8320:7148 (talk) 02:13, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

It's an uphill battle, with many examples of editors conferring professional titles on the basis of a doctorate (see for example Neil DeGrasse Tyson, an 'astrophysicist' who hasn't been a practicing astrophysicist in decades). Personally I think it's misleading, especially when you've got someone like Casey Means, who frequently pushes crackpot pseudoscience. The average reader hears 'medical doctor' and thinks this person is actively treating patients and/or performing mainstream medical research, which she is not. Jonathan f1 (talk) 21:08, 13 May 2025 (UTC)

• Her medical qualifications seem to compare well with the current Surgeon General, Denise Hinton, who has a degree in nursing, or the previous one, Vivek Murthy, who got an MD and did a standard 1 year residency. Neither of them seem to have been actively treating patients when they became Surgeon General so it doesn't appear that is normal for such a high-flying role. Andrew🐉(talk) 06:44, 14 May 2025 (UTC)

  That is not even close to true. Vivek Murthy did a 3 year residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital and then was hired as an attending physician. He worked as a hospitalist (an internal medicine doctor in a hospital) from 2006 to 2014. He is ABMS board certified and his license (#226024) is active according to the State of Massachusetts. 75.164.19.20 (talk) 06:07, 30 May 2025 (UTC)

• A reasonable compromise is to describe her as a "non-practicing physician". — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rick.mcgeer (talk • contribs) 01:30, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

  Agree with something along those lines. Jonathan f1 (talk) 15:11, 20 June 2025 (UTC)

  • Doctor of medicine is a term for those who have earned an MD degree. Medical doctor and physician are terms for those who are licensed as physicians. Former medical doctor and former physician are terms for those formerly licensed as physicians. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lawace (talk • contribs) 18:48, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

• It is kind of absurd to say an MD who is a viable nominee to be the "nation's top doctor" isn't a physician. I also think it's biased. Look at Howard Dean, where none of this discussion has ever taken place. Granted, he isn't relevant anymore, but still. You become a physician when you graduate medical schoool. "Formerly practicing physician" is probably the least egregious way to describe her inactive status, but it should just say "physician", despite what some here who seek to deligitimize this Stanford academic star would like. — Preceding unsigned comment added by NotYoshiTacoMoto (talk • contribs) 16:57, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

  The word "physician" is usually used as a professional designation, and "former physician" would be understood by most as being board-eligible and licensed for independent practice, which would be impossible because she never finished her residency. I think a much less misleading way of describing her would be "medical graduate", but definitely not "former physician". Most people will think she was actually a licensed, independent doctor which, again, she never was. ~2026-19488-60 (talk) 15:23, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

  Howard Dean practiced medicine for 10 years as an actual doctor tho and had an actual medical practice, not a "functional medical" practice like casey did, IE, not pseudo science nonsense. she does have good creds tho, no one is denying that. but she's devalued all that hard work when she dropped out and started grifting with the "alternative medicine" crowd. Mandlerex (talk) 08:18, 23 April 2026 (UTC)