Surgeon General Candidate Dr. Nicole Safier, in Her Own Words

Elizabeth Cooney is STAT’s cardiovascular disease reporter, covering heart, stroke and metabolic diseases. You can reach Liz on Signal at LizC.22.

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Now that Casey Means is no longer the Trump administration’s nominee for Surgeon General, attention has shifted to a third candidate for the position.

Nicole Safier, whose candidacy was announced Thursday, has a medical license, unlike Means, whose license has expired. Safia (pronounced SAA fire), a radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, is director of breast imaging at MSK Monmouth in New Jersey. She may be more widely known as a regular contributor to Fox Business. There, she said the overwhelming majority of “excellent research” disputes the idea that vaccines are linked to autism, but expressed openness to alternative childhood vaccination schedules.

Mr. Safia considered many other concerns common to the Make America Healthy Again movement promoted by Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., agreeing with Mr. Kennedy on some but clearly questioning others. In her own words, her thoughts on vaccines, peptides, Tylenol during pregnancy, dietary guidelines, breast cancer, and Casey Means.

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