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President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Casey Means, stated that a Democratic representative’s team had altered information about her associations with health products she has promoted and her financial links to those companies.

Sen. Chris Murphy(D-CT) accused of failing to reveal her sponsored social media posts — and she responded by criticizing his team.

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“Dr. Means, are you aware of the [Federal Trade Commission] guidelines that mandate online product recommenders to reveal their financial ties to the companies?” Murphy inquired.

Specifically, the FTC document states, ‘If you promote a product via social media, your endorsement should clearly indicate when you have a connection with the brand.’ Do you know about this?

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Means replied, “Certainly.”

Murphy brought up the ongoing complaint “about your failure to follow those guidelines, which essentially supports the claim. This committee has confirmed the data behind their complaint, indicating that you regularly breached this policy. In fact, in most of your posts recommending various products, you did not clearly disclose your financial ties.”

“That’s false,” Means said.

Murphy highlighted Means’ link to WeNatal, a company that produces prenatal vitamins, noting that Means’ documents reveal she was paid for this in the spring of 2024.

“And still, in September 2024, you shared a video stating you ‘had no financial connection to the company — just a big fan,’” Murphy remarked. Then, in October, you said, “not sponsored, just a fan.” However, there is evidence presented before this committee showing that, at the time you made those statements, you had a financial link. You had already begun receiving funds from that company.

Was not given partnership fees for promoting the product.

It’s wrong and gives a misleading picture,” Means stated. “And to be absolutely clear, I have been working for the past few months with the Office of Government Ethics to ensure complete adherence to this procedure. I take it very seriously.

Murphy mentioned additional companies with which she has had reported affiliations, such as Genova Diagnostics, Daily Harvest, and Zen Basil Seeds, and stated that she had not always revealed her financial ties to these organizations.

This appears to be a systemic issue. It seems that in most cases where you, as a healthcare professional, suggested a product, you were concealing your financial ties,” Murphy said. “You appear to be consistently and intentionally breaking the FTC guidelines. This is troubling for someone who supports Sen. Cassidy’s view that our priority should be rebuilding trust in the medical field, yet you keep recommending products on a large scale without informing your audience.

Murphy also noted that Means has a significant audience — 200,000 newsletter subscribers and almost 1 million Instagram followers.

It seems you have much to express regarding this matter, and I would be highly interested in seeing how your team analyzed this data,” Means stated. “I strongly believe that the method they used to collect this data was deliberately designed to support the claims you are making.

Murphy replied, stating he had the supporting data for the allegations. However, Means challenged his statements once more.

I don’t believe that’s accurate,” Means stated. “And if it has unintentionally occurred, I would correct it right away. Nevertheless, I would like to know how your team obtained this information… I consider conflicts of interest very seriously.