Former Obama Doctor: Joe Biden Is “Not a Healthy Guy”

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Fox News confirms:

One of President Obama's former doctors reportedly disputed a letter released by former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign in which the former vice president's own doctor praised the 77-year-old presidential candidate as a "healthy, vigorous" man.

“He’s not a healthy guy,” said Dr. David Scheiner, who previously served as Obama's physician. According to the Washington Examiner, Scheiner read Biden's medical history and said the presidential candidate "has a lot of issues."

“He’s not in bad shape for his age, but I wouldn't say he’s in outstanding health. Could I guarantee he won't have issues for the next four years? He has a lot of issues that are just sort of sitting there," Scheiner said.

Scheiner previously told the Examiner that Biden "looked frail" during the first Democratic primary debate. "I sort of got the feeling he wasn’t very strong. It was similar to the feeling I got when Republicans started attacking Mueller so fiercely," he said.

Questions about Biden’s health and age have repeatedly come up since even before the former vice president declared his candidacy in April. In September, Biden committed to publicly releasing his medical records before the Iowa caucuses, to try and put to rest concerns over whether he was fit enough to take on President Trump in a general election campaign -- and whether he would be up to the rigors and stress of serving as president.

On Tuesday, the Biden campaign released a statement from Dr. Kevin O'Connor, who served as White House physician to Biden for several years.

"Vice President Biden is a healthy, vigorous 77-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency, to include those as chief executive, head of state and commander in chief,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor said.

In his report, O’Connor said that Biden is currently being treated for non-valvular atrial-fibrillation, better known as Afib, which is an irregular heartbeat. He said Biden is also being treated for hyperlipidemia, which is an abnormally high concentration of fats or lipids in the blood, as well as gastroesophageal reflux, a digestive disorder that occurs when acidic stomach juices, or food and fluids, back up from the stomach into the esophagus. And he noted that Biden – as many Americans do – suffers from seasonal allergies.

“For these, he takes three common prescription medications and two common over-the-counter medications,” O’Connor said.

His report listed Biden's weight as 178 pounds and his height as 5 feet, 11.65 inches.

Biden's campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Scheiner also commented on former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's health. Bloomberg, also 77, threw his hat into the 2020 race late and provoked speculation that he thought 2020 frontrunners like Biden couldn't cut it.

The Washington Examiner adds:

Former President Barack Obama’s once-longtime doctor said the medical records Joe Biden’s campaign disclosed are concerning and incomplete. 

“He’s not a healthy guy,” Dr. David Scheiner, who was Obama's personal physician for 22 years before he became president, concluded after reading the records. “He’s not in bad shape for his age, but I wouldn't say he’s in outstanding health. Could I guarantee he won't have issues for the next four years? He has a lot of issues that are just sort of sitting there.” 

A three-page letter from Biden’s physician concluded the former vice president is a “healthy, vigorous, 77-year-old” that is fit to be president. But the letter also revealed Biden receives treatment for an irregular heartbeat and high cholesterol and that he deals with acid reflux and seasonal allergies. It noted his already known history of aneurysms and that he took blood thinners. 

The details from the letter made Scheiner, 81, concerned about Biden’s potential for strokes, and he said he would want to see results from an MRI or CT scan. Because Biden also used to have sleep apnea before getting surgery on his sinus and nasal passages, Scheiner said he would also like to review the results of a sleep study. 

The report doesn’t mention an MRI despite the fact that Biden had two brain aneurysms in 1988, the first of which almost killed him. Earlier this year, the Washington Examiner interviewedBiden’s former surgeon, who vouched the 2020 front-runner was in the clear. 

But the latest health information doesn’t mention details of any checkups that likely occurred to screen for future issues. The report also included mention of surgeries that hadn’t been previously disclosed, including one for an enlarged prostate. Previously, the public only knew Biden had received treatment for the disorder. 

Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who wrote the assessment, also stated that Biden had “received multiple physical therapy treatments and surgeries, for various sports medicine and orthopedic injuries” but declined to specify any further. 

“I had no idea Biden had such a history. My goodness gracious, he’s got a lot of history,” Scheiner said. 

Biden’s last medical records disclosure, from when he was Obama’s running mate in 2008, was 49 pages. He has faced speculation this election cycle about his age and mental capacity, including from President Trump, who has said Biden is “ not playing with a full deck.” 

The most recent doctor's letter doesn’t address Biden’s vision, even though Biden blamed a contact lens mishap for his eye filling with blood during a town hall, nor does the letter address whether he has had multiple cosmetic surgeries. 

Historically, presidential candidates have relied on letters from their personal doctors to disclose details of their health to the public. As a result, there’s no uniform way that a candidate’s medical information is presented to voters, and there’s no guarantee the information is complete. 

For instance, former Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain made more than 1,500 pages of medical and psychiatric records available to reporters because he had a history of cancer and was a prisoner of war, but rumors about his health persisted. In contrast, Hillary Clinton released a two-page letter that omitted her weight. 

During his 2016 campaign, Trump’s doctor declared he would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” Later, the press learned the phrase had been dictated by Trump himself, and the White House provided few details of an unscheduled visit the president made in November to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. 

Scheiner said he wants to see MRI results for Trump to check for strokes, as well as a neurocognitive assessment. He raised concerns about the president’s speech pattern and behavior, saying it may be a sign of neurological damage. 

“Something happened,” Scheiner said of the Walter Reed visit. 

Health information from this year’s presidential field has been similarly sparse. Michael Bloomberg, 77, released records from his doctor on Dec. 12 declaring him to be in “ outstanding health,” a phrase Scheiner called “hyperbole” because the medical records also disclosed he previously had problems with his heart and takes blood thinners. 

“'Outstanding health'? With that history, I wouldn’t call it outstanding health,” Scheiner said. 

Elizabeth Warren, 70, released a one-page medical report this month from her physician concluding the Massachusetts senator “ is in excellent health” and listed a number of tests showing a normal heartbeat, cholesterol, blood pressure, and other vital signs. Unlike Biden, Warren excluded a detailed record of her medical history. Instead, her physician made a passing mention to a thyroid disorder in which medication is prescribed.