The White House later Monday The letter was published President Biden’s physician is trying to clarify why a neurologist with expertise in Parkinson’s disease has made multiple visits to the White House.
The letter came after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre engaged in several tense exchanges with reporters the same day about whether the administration had been transparent about Biden’s health status.
The president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, wrote that Dr. Kevin Canard was the specialist who performed the neurological exams at Biden’s three annual physicals, including one in February, adding that Biden “has not been seen by a neurologist outside of annual physicals.”
“I detailed the results of this year’s examination in my letter of February 28th,” O’Connor wrote, adding that “to our reassurance again, a very thorough neurological examination revealed no findings consistent with stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease or ascending lateral sclerosis, or any other central nervous system disease, including but not limited to cerebellar or central nervous system disease, and no signs of cervical myelopathy.”
In her letter, O’Connor emphasized that it was Canard’s comprehensive medical and military background, not his expertise in movement disorders, that led to him examining Biden.
“Seeing patients at the White House is something Dr. Cannard has been doing for 12 years,” O’Connor said. “Dr. Cannard was selected for this role not because he specializes in movement disorders, but because he is a highly trained and respected neurologist at Walter Reed and throughout the military health system, with an incredible breadth of expertise and the flexibility to work with a wide variety of patients and problems.”
The letter was made public hours after Mr Jean-Pierre was bombarded with questions about why visitor records show Mr Cannard visited the White House eight times over an eight-month period between last summer and this spring.
Jean-Pierre repeatedly refused to provide details about the visit or whether Canard was there to meet the president, citing safety and privacy concerns with more than 1,000 military personnel being treated in the White House medical unit.
Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday that Biden has never been or is currently being treated for Parkinson’s disease and is not taking any medication. He said the president has seen a neurologist three times during his term, once for each of his three medical checkups since taking office.
O’Connor’s letter repeated what Jean-Pierre told reporters that the White House typically does not release the names of experts it works with. She said she received permission from Canard to release the letter Monday night.
Elaborating on Canard’s background, O’Connor said his “qualifications make him a valuable and versatile consultant in the assessment and treatment of a range of conditions.”
After Biden’s halting speech and apparent struggle to organize his thoughts during the June 27 debate, questions have become commonplace about the president’s mental acuity and whether he can serve another four years in office.
Biden’s debate performance has sparked days of anguish within Democrats over whether the president should step aside and field another candidate, with some lawmakers questioning whether Biden can campaign vigorously enough to defeat former President Trump in November’s presidential election.
Biden has vowed not to drop out of the race, dismissing calls for him to do so as what his party’s “elites” want, not ordinary voters.
Records show that Cannard met with Biden’s White House physician, O’Connor, and cardiologist Dr. John Atwood at the White House clinic in January. Biden had his annual physical at Walter Reed hospital on Feb. 28.
The New York Times reported that Cannard visited the White House more than 20 times during the Obama administration between 2012 and 2016. It is unclear whether he visited the Trump administration, because then-President Trump stopped releasing visitor records.
