The White House acknowledged Monday that Biden had been examined by a Parkinson’s disease specialist who visited the Executive Office eight times over the course of several months, but said the tests were only administered during the president’s annual physical.
The revelation came in a letter from Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, hours after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to explain Biden’s frequent recent visits with Parkinson’s disease specialist Dr. Kevin Canard.
“Dr. Canard was the neurologist who examined President Biden during his annual physical,” O’Connor wrote in the letter.
“President Biden does not see a neurologist outside of his annual physicals,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor noted that while Cannard specializes in treating patients with movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, he has also worked as a general neurologist for six years and has served as a neurology consultant to the White House Medical Center since 2012.
He also reiterated that President Biden’s final medical examination in February showed no evidence of Parkinson’s disease or any other neurological disorder.
The letter came after a tense exchange between Jean-Pierre and reporters earlier in the day, with a White House spokesman refusing to explain the purpose of Canard’s visit, citing “security concerns.”
Between July 2023 and March 2024, Dr. Cannard made eight trips from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to the White House residence clinic for early morning appointments.
Records show the expert met with Megan Nasworthy. Coordinate primary care visits He made seven visits to the White House for the president and his family, and on another visit he met with O’Connor and Dr. John Atwood, a cardiologist at Walter Reed Hospital.
But O’Connor said Cannard frequently visits the White House medical unit to meet with military personnel and regularly hosts neurology clinics for active-duty military personnel.
“Prior to and continuing through the pandemic, the President has hosted regular neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic to support the thousands of active duty military members who support the operation of the White House,” the president’s physician wrote.
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“Many military members experience service-related neurological issues, and Dr. Canard visits WHMU regularly as part of his general neurology practice.”
But the doctor and other White House officials declined to say whether Canard’s visit also included consulting about Biden’s health when he wasn’t meeting in person with the president.
Biden has come under intense scrutiny from both Republicans and Democrats over his cognitive health since his defeat in a debate last month against former President Donald Trump, 78.
Doctors who have not personally examined or treated Biden said his poor performance at the debate – marked by a blank expression, a stumbling gait, a soft voice and slurred speech – was consistent with common symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and related cognitive disorders.
Dr Rob Howard, professor of geriatric psychiatry, University of Londonsaid the president’s “fluctuations in attention, his facial expressions and the way he walked” during the debate stood out as signs that something was wrong.
“I’m not saying he has Parkinson’s, I’m just pointing out that he has characteristics consistent with Parkinson’s,” he said.
Biden’s doctors have disputed that claim, saying they have found no reason to retest him since his annual exam in February.
