CV NEWS FEED // A Parkinson’s disease specialist has reportedly been making several visits to the White House over the last year, sparking a contentious White House press briefing on July 8 about President Joe Biden’s health.
According to a July 7 report from The Free Press, public visitor logs indicate that neurologist and Parkinson’s specialist Kevin Cannard paid eight visits to the White House between July 28, 2023, and March 28, 2024.
“If Cannard is treating Biden, then the president has some explaining to do,” The Free Press reported, adding that Biden has repeatedly refused to take cognitive tests.
Many Americans are concerned about the 81-year-old President’s mental and physical health, and neurologists have weighed in on Biden’s mental capacities.
An emeritus professor of neurology, whom The Free Press didn’t identify, told the news outlet that he believes Biden has “Parkinsonism” based on his “masked face, reduced blinking, stiff and slow gait, hunched posture, low-volume voice, imbalance, freezing, mild cognitive disturbance, and difficulty turning.”
Another unidentified neurologist agreed, reportedly stating:
All the disturbing symptoms we all see are called Parkinsonism. . . . In fact in medical school we watch videos of patients with Parkinsonism like Biden to illustrate to the students how this manifests.
The Free Press demanded Cannard publicly disclose his findings regarding the President’s health. According to the results of a physical exam released in February, Biden had no symptoms of Parkinson’s and was declared by his physician “fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”
“If Cannard has examined the president and agrees with this, he should say so publicly,” The Free Press reported, adding:
It is also incumbent on the administration to explain Cannard’s multiple visits. If this neurologist has diagnosed and is treating Biden for a form of Parkinsonism—and this has been covered up—that’s a medical and political scandal. If his doctors believe he has this disease and are failing to inform and treat him, that is shocking malpractice.
The Free Press report sparked a White House press briefing that erupted in “chaos,” according to White House correspondent for Today News Africa Simon Ateba.
In response to questions about physicians whom Biden has seen, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden has only seen a neurologist three times during his presidency. She refused to give any names, claiming security precautions.
One reporter specifically asked Jean-Pierre if the Parkinson’s expert was at the White House in direct connection with Biden’s care, but she responded by once again reiterating the results of the February report.
