As concerns mount and rumors swirl about President Joe Biden’s cognitive health, particularly in the wake of what was allegedly a meeting between his doctor and a Parkinson’s specialist, his physician released his statement on his health that was stunning in that it seemed removed from the drama and questions, and so did little to quell any concerns.
As background, that Parkinson’s expert is Dr. Kevin Cannard. He apparently met with the White House physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, and a cardiologist, when he visited the White House eight times in eight months from July 2023 to March 2024, according to a report in the New York Times that came out on Monday.
It was those visits that Dr. O’Connor tried to address and explain away in his letter. Beginning the letter and attempting to explain the White House’s silence on the matter, he wrote, “I wanted to share with you background on why Dr. Kevin Cannard visited the White House. To protect patient privacy for the thousands of patients of the White House Medical Unit and the physicians who treat them, normally we do not disclose the names of the specialists we work with. However, in the interests of accuracy, I have obtained permission from the President and Dr. Cannard to confirm the details I am sharing.”
He continued, explaining the credentials of the Parkinson’s expert, “Dr. Cannard has been the Neurology Consultant to the White House Medical Unit since 2012. He was chosen for his breadth of experience and expertise across the specialty of Neurology. Prior to his Movement Disorders fellowship at Emory University, he had practiced as a general neurologist for six years. He is the longest serving Neurologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and in the Military Healthcare System. He has been a member of the faculty at the Uniformed Services University’s medical school since 1991 and is core faculty of the Neurology Residency Program. He has numerous local and national teaching awards, and is highly regarded for his clinical skills.”
Continuing on much the same line and still having not gotten to the reason for the visits, Dr. O’Connor added, These qualities make him a valued and versatile consultant to assess and treat a wide variety of conditions. Prior to the pandemic, and following its end, he has held regular Neurology Clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations. Many military personnel experience neurological issues related to their service, and Dr. Cannard regularly visits the WHMU as part of this General Neurology practice. We value the contributions he has made across the many patients he has treated in support of the White House and its personnel over these years.”
He then said, attempting to frame the visits as part of Biden’s annual physical, “As I have written in each of the President’s medical reports, as part of the President’s annual physical, he sees a team of specialists that have included Optometry, Dentistry, Orthopedics (Foot and Ankle), Orthopedics (Spine), Physical Therapy, Neurology, Sleep Medicine, Cardiology, Radiology, and Dermatology. Dr. Cannard was the neurological specialist that examined President Biden for each of his annual physicals. His findings have been made public each time I have released the results of the President’s annual physical. President Biden has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physical.”
Continuing without addressing why the visits were so numerous, he said, “The results of this year’s exam were detailed in my February 28th letter: ‘An extremely detailed neurologic exam was again reassuring in that there were no findings which would be consistent with any cerebellar or other central neurological disorder, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or ascending lateral sclerosis, nor are there any signs of cervical myelopathy. This exam did again support a finding of peripheral neuropathy in both feet. No motor weakness was detected. He exhibits no tremor, either at rest or with activity. He demonstrates excellent fine motor dexterity. But a subtle difference in heat/cold sensation could be elicited as it was last year. This heat/cold sensation deficit was detected a couple of inches higher on his ankle/calf this year, which is not unexpected. There may, in fact, be day to day subjective variation of these findings, as during last year’s exam, this area of sensation deficit was actually found to be smaller than the year before.'”
Concluding, he said, “Seeing patients at the White House is something that Dr. Cannard has been doing for a dozen years. 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 here 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.”
Left unaddressed in the letter was why the Parkinson’s expert visited so many times over so many months if it is was just a small issue caught in the physical that needed to be addressed. Also unaddressed was why, if President Biden is as healthy as claimed in this letter and his previous ones, he had such a hard time at the Trump-Biden debate in late June.
Watch Biden’s horrible performance here:
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