White House physician Kevin O’Connor said Monday evening that a Parkinson’s specialist has not seen a neurologist outside of President Joe Biden’s annual physical, referring to visits to the White House.
Expert Dr. Kevin Cannard’s visits raised questions that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had left unanswered earlier in the day. Biden went on the defensive, trying to reassure Americans Democratic lawmakers then he can run away and win poor debate performance last month.
NBC News previously confirmed This was reported by the New York Post newspaper A Parkinson’s specialist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center visited the White House at least eight times in eight months, according to public visitor records.
O’Connor’s letter details Cannard’s background as a neurology specialist, noting that he has been a neurology adviser to the White House Medical Association since 2012. , O’Connor wrote.
Before the Covid pandemic, Cannard organized regular neurological clinics at the White House medical clinic for thousands of active-duty military personnel assigned to support White House operations, the letter said.
“Seeing patients at the White House is something Dr. Cannard has been doing for a decade,” O’Connor writes. “Dr. Cannard was chosen for this responsibility because he is a specialist in movement disorders, but he is also a highly trained and highly regarded neuropathologist at Walter Reed and the Military Health System, and has a wide range of experience, which makes him flexible to see diversity. patients and problems.”
Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing on Monday Biden has a comprehensive annual physical evaluation, which includes a referral to a neurologist, and the results are made public, he said. He did not release the names, citing security concerns.
The White House Medical Unit has thousands of patients and does not usually share the names of the doctors it works with, O’Connor said wrote in the letterAddressed to Jean-Pierre.
“However, for the sake of accuracy, I asked the President and Dr. to confirm the details I shared. I got permission from Cannard,” he wrote.
O’Connor also wrote that Biden He performed physical activity in February and said he showed no signs of neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease.
“The results of this year’s exam were detailed in my letter of February 28: “An extremely detailed neurological examination was again confident that there were no cerebellum or findings consistent with central neurological disorders such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, multiple sclerosis. No signs of Parkinson’s or ascending lateral sclerosis, nor cervical myelopathy,” O’Connor wrote.
The White House clarified on Tuesday that Biden had been physically seen by Cannard on January 17, 2024, before Walter Reed’s visit the following month.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the purpose of the January visit late Tuesday after saying in response to a question from The Associated that the Jan. 17 meeting had nothing to do with the president. press
“Since the question does not mention a date, I want to clarify that the January 17th meeting between Dr. O’Connor and Dr. Cannard was a physical meeting with the President,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement first reported by The Associated Press. press “This is the President’s Dr. It was one of only three times he saw Cannard in person. The results of each exam have been announced to the public.
Questions about Biden’s health follow poor debate performance leaving people including some Democratic lawmakershe pulls aside and asks if he’s letting someone else run.
Biden resisted those calls, and on Monday he He repeated that he would stay the competition.
Monica Alba and Peter Alexander contributed.