New surgeon general nominee cofounded “biowearables” startup with DOGE operative

Before she was chosen as Donald Trump's latest nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Casey Means came from the world of healthcare startups - and cofounded one with a tech entrepreneur who's now a key DOGE operative in charge of dismantling the IRS.

In 2019, Means, a holistic medicine doctor who rose to prominence in the Trump-adjacent MAHA movement, launched Levels, a biowearables and health-tracking company, with Sam Corcos, who's now leading efforts at DOGE to construct a "mega API" that compiles American taxpayers' data. The company, whose first product was a blood glucose tracker connected to a $400-per-month subscription app, received tens of millions of dollars funding over the past several years - notably from Andreesen-Horowitz's venture capital arm a16z, which led its $12 million seed round and its Series A round.

"Both the health of our people and the fiscal solvency of our country are at stake," Marc Andreesen, now a Trump advisor and a critical player in the rise of the tech right, said in a press release announcing its Series A extension back in August 2024. "Levels is a case study of the application of technology to both."

Their affiliation is by no means hidden: Cor …

Read the full story at The Verge.