Trump’s pick for surgeon general sells supplement with ingredient banned by Pentagon | Trump administration

Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general is selling an herbal supplement that contains an ingredient banned by the U.S. military and that health experts say can cause liver damage.

Dr. Nicole Saphier’s history of selling dietary supplements, which are lightly regulated in the United States, has sparked concern among doctors and consumer advocates, some of whom say she is selling “snake oil.”

Amazon said it opened an investigation into the products after the Guardian asked whether they complied with the company’s policies on selling supplements.

“No one who prides themselves on being scientifically rigorous is in the supplement business,” said Dr. Peter Lurie of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food and health watchdog organization. Lurie was an outspoken critic of what he called wellness industry “crooks” within Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Make America Healthy Again (Maha) movement, who he said were selling poorly regulated supplements with unsubstantiated claims to consumers.

The surgeon general is considered America’s doctor, responsible for communicating to Americans the best scientific information on how to improve their health. Previous surgeons general issued influential warnings about smoking and raised public awareness about AIDS.

Saphier specializes in breast cancer as a radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New Jersey and is a former Fox News contributor. She is Trump’s third choice for the position after his first two failed to advance in the Senate.

Saphier and his company, Drop RX, did not respond to several emails seeking comment.

“Dr. Nicole Saphier is an accomplished physician who practiced radiology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and has been an outspoken voice on breast cancer prevention, intrusive COVID-19 mandates, the politicization of science, and the federal government’s role in the chronic disease epidemic in the United States,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai wrote in an email. “She will be a powerful asset to President Trump and will work tirelessly to achieve all facets of his Maha agenda.” »

Richard Carpiano, a public health scientist and professor of public policy at UC Riverside, said it was concerning that the candidate for an office that depends so much on trust sold “pseudo-scientific” products for profit.

“The U.S. surgeon general should serve in a position of great trust as America’s health communicator, bringing to bear the best science, scientific know-how,” said Carpiano, who worked on a surgeon general report in the past. “If she’s willing to promote these types of wellness products, what else could she offer along the way? »

Saphier has been selling products under the Drop RX brand since at least 2024, according to a Guardian review. The Guardian found that the brand offers at least nine formulations, with names including Allure, Boost, Relief, Sleep and Intimacy. The labels describe Drop RX as “doctor-formulated” and suggest the benefits people might see if they use the products. The labels state that Focus is “designed to support overall brain health,” while Calm is “designed to support a balanced mind and body.”

The Drop RX website links directly to Amazon, where two formulations, Calm and Focus, were available for sale until recently in a Drop RX storefront. The Guardian purchased both products for $24.99 each shortly after Saphier was announced as Trump’s choice. The liquid comes in a 2-ounce glass bottle with a dropper, with a label suggesting using “1 to 2 droppers daily under the tongue or diluted in a drink.”

On Wednesday, the Guardian inquired about Drop RX’s listings on Amazon and Saphier. As of Thursday, several listings had been removed and those that remained were listed as “currently unavailable” and could not be purchased. Amazon said in an email: “We are investigating the compliance of the products in question and will take appropriate corrective action. »

In the past, Saphier promoted the products on her Instagram account. In a video posted in June 2025, she asked, “Did you see a new study released this week? The more rosemary and sage you eat in your diet, the lower your risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Good news! Focus by Drop RX already contains liquid rosemary and sage to support your brain health. So we’re already ahead of this trend.”

In another video from August 2025, Saphier said her morning routine involves making tea from her Boost and Intimacy products.

“Privacy. I know what that looks like,” she said with a smile as she showed the box to the camera. She called it an incredible combination that is “a natural aphrodisiac.” “And it’s actually great for hormonal support. So if you’re like my age, men, women, we could all, kind of, use it.”

Unlike Saphier’s other products, the Guardian was unable to find Intimacy listed on Amazon.

In another post that appeared in a Google search but is no longer available on her Instagram account, Saphier said she was preparing a “care package” of DropRX liquid herbs for Trump “as he continues to heal from his gunshot wound.”

Saphier’s employer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), one of the world’s most renowned research hospitals, has a conflict of interest policy that prohibits “endorsement of products or commercial ventures.” MSKCC did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment on Saphier’s compliance with hospital policies.

An ingredient of concern

The first ingredient listed in the “Calm” formulation of Drop RX is kava kava root. Also called kava, the ingredient was added to the U.S. Department of Defense’s list of prohibited dietary supplement ingredients in April 2024, “due to the possibility of adulteration and subsequent threat to military readiness,” according to a spokesperson for the department’s health system.

The spokesperson added that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food and drug safety, first issued a consumer advisory in 2002, expressing concerns about liver damage associated with kava consumption. The FDA published a 29-page review of the scientific literature in 2020 and highlighted safety concerns regarding kava.

Kava can be sold legally in the United States, but it has been banned or restricted in some countries, including the United Kingdom, France, and Switzerland, due to concerns about liver toxicity.

Rules in the United States can vary depending on whether the product is mixed with anything and where it is sold. For example, kava is sometimes sold as tea, but New York State does not allow food establishments to serve it because it is considered an adulterant. However, New York State does not restrict the sale of kava alone as a nutritional supplement, according to a spokesperson for the state health department.

Consumer advocates have raised additional concerns about Drop RX.

ConsumerLab.com independently tests health and nutrition products and has reviewed thousands of dietary supplements. It publishes a list of “red flags” to look out for when purchasing dietary supplements.

After reviewing Amazon listings for two of the Drop RX products at the Guardian’s request, its president, Tod Cooperman, said they present the number one red flag his group warns against: labels that don’t tell you how much you’re getting. Both products the Guardian purchased contain listed ingredients including organic ginkgo biloba extract, Bacopa monnieri and organic lavender, but did not specify how much of each was in the bottle or in a dose.

“We prefer that consumers buy products that they know what is actually being offered to them,” Cooperman said. “Most supplements will tell you this and disclose the amount of each ingredient.”

Although the labels said the products were made in the United States and used good manufacturing practices, they did not specify where they were made or indicate that a third party had verified those manufacturing practices, Cooperman said.

A growing market

Supplements are a growing but controversial segment of the wellness market. Figures from the Maha movement have courted this industry, whose sales are estimated to have reached $72.9 billion in the United States in 2025.

But unlike drugs and pharmaceuticals that undergo rigorous testing, dietary supplements do not need to be proven safe and effective before being marketed, said Lurie, of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. That means many supplements don’t work, he said, don’t contain the ingredients they claim, contain ingredients that could cause health problems, or all of the above.

Unlike medications, dietary supplements are generally not allowed to make health claims, such as that they treat a certain disease. But they can make what are called structure or function claims that their ingredients can affect a certain structure or function of the body, such as saying that they provide “immune support” or that “calcium builds strong bones.”

Lurie said one of the reasons many dietary supplements fall into this category is because no one has proven their effectiveness and health benefits.

“If that were the case, someone could take it and try to make a medicine out of it, right? Because then there would be a lot of money to be made. Even better money to be made,” he said.

Saphier, he said, is just Trump’s latest choice to support such products, which he said “tell you about the quality of science they’re likely to implement.”