The White House announced on July 8 that Joe Biden has not seen a neurologist apart from his annual physicals. The issue came up after journalists questioned the president’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, in a heated press conference, asking her to clarify why a Parkinson’s disease specialist had been visiting the White House.
The specialist, Kevin Cannard, had gone to the White House as many as eight times in about eight months, giving rise to speculation about Biden’s health.
President’s physician writes a letter
The president’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, wrote a letter clarifying what has been going on, saying that Kevin Cannard had been a neurology consultant to the White House medical unit since 2012.
”Dr Cannard was chosen for this responsibility not because he is a movement disorder specialist, but because he is a highly trained and highly regarded neurologist at Walter Reed and across the Military Health System, with a very wide expertise which makes him flexible to see a variety of patients and problems,” said O’Connor.
O’Connor added that Biden’s last medical checkup was in February, and he had not shown any cerebellar or other neurological disorder, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or ascending lateral sclerosis, nor are there any signs of cervical myelopathy.
The letter was released with the permission of Biden and Cannard and was the result of the argument between Karine Jean-Pierre and journalists who considered her statements on the president’s health vague and inconsistent. The reporters felt that she was not able to give a satisfactory answer on Cannard’s presence at the White House.
Whether this letter will be enough to quell the fears and questions about the president’s health remains to be seen. Speculation continues as certain things have come to light after his disastrous debate session with Donald Trump recently.
These include his staff preparing memos with large print and photos and mapping out his path to the podium for public engagements, which led to questions about his cognitive ability.