The White House said Monday that Joe Biden has not seen a neurologist, other than his annual physical. This followed a heated exchange between the president’s spokesman and reporters who wanted an explanation for why a Parkinson’s specialist has visited the White House eight times in as many months.
In a evening letter White House physician Kevin O’Connor said the specialist, Kevin Cannard, has been a neurology consultant to the White House Medical Unit since 2012. He said Cannard had visited several times a year since then and that the neurologist was chosen because of his broad experience and expertise.
“Seeing patients at the White House is something Dr. Cannard has been doing for a dozen years,” O’Connor wrote. “Dr. Cannard was chosen for this responsibility not because he is a movement disorders specialist, but because he is a highly trained and highly regarded neurologist here at Walter Reed and in the Military Health System, with a very broad expertise that makes him flexible to see a variety of patients and problems.”
He added that Cannard was the neurologist who examined Biden for his three annual medical exams since becoming president.
Biden’s last medical exam in February had revealed no “cerebellar or other central neurological disorder, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, or ascending lateral sclerosis, nor were there any signs of cervical myelopathy,” O’Connor wrote.
The letter, which O’Connor said he released with the permission of both Biden and Cannard, followed intense speculation about the president’s cognitive abilities after his troubled performance in a debate with Donald Trump in Atlanta last month, in which he repeatedly appeared confused and lost track.
It was released after Karine Jean-Pierre, the president’s spokesperson, clashed with reporters in the White House press briefing room, asking them for “respect” and refusing to confirm Cannard’s name, despite multiple media outlets reporting it.
“We have thousands of military personnel coming to the White House and they are under the care of the medical unit,” she said.
“The president has seen a neurologist three times,” she added, going on to say that there were “no findings that would be consistent with any cerebellar or other central neurological disorders such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease or ascending lateral sclerosis.”
She said Biden was not being treated for Parkinson’s disease and was not taking any medications.
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O’Connor’s letter may not be enough to allay suspicions about Biden’s health and fitness for the presidency, now that it has been revealed that he is a former business associate and close friend of the president’s family. Politico reported that in 2017 he introduced Biden’s brother, Jim Biden, to a medical team focused on the military, while Biden himself was pursuing a business venture focused on securing contracts for Veterans Affairs. The president’s sister-in-law, Sara Biden, has also described O’Connor as a friend who has provided medical advice to the family.
Jacob Appel, a professor at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York, told Politico that presidential physicians can’t necessarily be trusted to reveal the truth about their high-profile patients.
“Presidential physicians have been deceiving the public since the early 1800s,” said Appel, who has studied the medical dilemmas of several doctors who have worked for U.S. presidents. “There are countless ways to say something that is factually correct but doesn’t convey the full meaning of what’s going on.”
There has been increasing speculation about issues regarding Biden that may not have been scrutinized before his poor performance in the debate, such as the recent revelation that his staff prepares memoscomplete with large letters and photos, outlining his route to the podium for public appearances. However, the campaign stressed that such material is available to all presidents.