Trump Surgeon General Pick Nicole Saphier Faces Senate Hearing
Left 100%
Center 0%
Right 0%
2 left · 0 center · 0 right
What happened
Dr. Nicole Saphier, a radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. surgeon general, filed a financial disclosure and ethics agreement last week reporting $270,605 in business income from Empower MD, LLC, a company she owns that sells Drop RX dietary supplements, with the company’s value listed between $100,001 and $250,000. She said she would sell the company before assuming the post. The same filings listed investments by Saphier and her husband in tobacco firms including Philip Morris International, which she agreed to divest within 90 days of confirmation, along with holdings in pharmaceutical, healthcare, technology, fossil-fuel, and food companies. Saphier, Trump’s third pick after two earlier nominees failed to advance, testified Wednesday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Sourcing check · Partly on the record · 3 articles
1 of 3 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 1 of 3
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 1 of 3
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: financial disclosure, regulatory filing
- Credits another outlet 0 of 3
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 3
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Sep 15, 12:00 UTC by The Guardian, naming its source. First document in the first report, from The Guardian (financial disclosure).
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
BLINDSPOT.
Only left-leaning outlets are covering this story
— the other side's media is silent.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
The nominee's paid work for a supplement company is missing entirely from right-leaning coverage. Left-leaning coverage reports that Saphier made $270,605 through Empower MD, which owns Drop RX, and that she said she would sell the firm before serving. A reader who never sees those outlets would not know she also reported tobacco investments she promised to divest within 90 days.
Among the outlets that did write, the Guardian opens on loosely regulated supplements and a critic's "snake oil" charge, while The Hill leads with a live Senate hearing and identifies her as a media personality. The Hill items never state the Empower MD income or the Philip Morris holdings.
Did senators ask Saphier why she held tobacco stock at all?
Bottom line
The Guardian put Saphier's supplement income at $270,605 and noted her Philip Morris shares; right-leaning readers have not been shown either fact.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Saphier reported $270,605 in business income from Empower MD
- A Drop RX product includes kava kava root, which the US military lists as a prohibited dietary supplement
- Drop RX Soothe was still being sold for $24.99 as of Monday
- A White House spokesman said Saphier would be a powerful asset for Trump's Maha agenda
- Peter Lurie said a tobacco investment ought to be an automatic exclusion from surgeon general
The Left View
The Guardian, citing Saphier’s disclosure, reported the $270,605 Empower MD income and described the dietary-supplement industry as loosely regulated, noting critics who analogize some products to “snake oil.” It said Drop RX had sold at least nine formulations since 2024, including a kava-kava product the U.S. military prohibits and about which the FDA has published liver-safety concerns, and that at least one product remained for sale on Amazon. The paper also highlighted tobacco holdings (Philip Morris International for Saphier and her husband; British American Tobacco for her husband) and quoted Dr. Peter Lurie of the Center for Science in the Public Interest arguing that supplement entrepreneurship and tobacco investments are incompatible with the surgeon general’s role. The Hill covered the Wednesday confirmation hearing, identifying Saphier as a former Fox News contributor and media personality and noting controversy around the nomination. A White House spokesman previously called her an accomplished physician who would advance Trump’s agenda; the White House and Empower MD did not comment on the Guardian’s specific questions.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantive: it rests on named filings (a financial disclosure and ethics agreement), a specific dollar amount, a named company and product line, and listed holdings, not on a single uncorroborated claim. Established facts include the reported $270,605 from Empower MD, the stated company-value range, Saphier’s pledge to sell the firm before taking office, the tobacco and other investments as disclosed, and her agreement to divest the tobacco interests within 90 days if confirmed. Characterizations that supplements are “snake oil,” that owning such a firm or tobacco stock should be an automatic disqualification, and broader attacks on the wellness industry are advocacy judgments, not findings in the filings. No right-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch the confirmation vote, whether the sale and tobacco divestitures are completed as pledged, hearing testimony and any ethics-office follow-up, and any official response from Saphier or the White House on the disclosure itself.
3 sources
More stories
The week's bottom lines, in your inbox
One email a week: the five stories that mattered and what they actually mean. Free.