It’s one thing for both Republican and Democrat lawmakers to call on embattled Joe Biden to drop his bid for reelection in the aftermath of his bumbling, mumbling performance in the presidential debate.
It’s a quite another thing when a noted neurosurgeon and Associate Chief of Neurosurgery at a major hospital — who is also CNN’s chief medical correspondent — to call on Biden to undergo detailed cognitive and neurological testing, as well as movement disorder testing, and to share the results with the public.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta summed it up in nine stark words: “For me as a brain specialist, it was concerning”:
Dr Sanjay Gupta calls on Biden to do cognitive testing: ‘For me as a brain specialist, it was concerning’ https://t.co/NYUCCTlg2f pic.twitter.com/QItY3be4A4
— New York Post (@nypost) July 5, 2024
In an analysis written for CNN, Gupta continued.
It quickly became clear that I was not alone in my reaction. Over the past week, I received more than a dozen calls, texts and emails from medical colleagues who, like me, specialize in the brain. It wasn’t that what we noticed was necessarily new but that it was particularly pronounced, and right from the start of the debate.
From a neurological standpoint, we were concerned with his confused rambling; sudden loss of concentration in the middle of a sentence; halting speech and absence of facial animation, resulting at times in a flat, open-mouthed expression.
Gupta referenced “dementia” and “parkinsonism,” while stressing he and the others were only offering observations rather than an actual diagnosis.
“To be clear, these are only observations,” Gupta said, “not in any way diagnostic of something deeper, and none of these doctors wished to suggest that was the case. Yet, Gupta said:
The consensus from the doctors reaching out to me, however, was that the president should be encouraged to undergo detailed cognitive and movement disorder testing, and those results should be made available to the public.
Gupta Explains the Level of Testing He and His Colleagues Recommend
This is sobering stuff, given the extraordinary people recommending it, (emphasis, mine).
Over the past five years, I have reported extensively on the advances in the world of treating and reducing risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia and vascular dementia. For the documentary “The Last Alzheimer’s Patient,”
I even went through extensive cognitive testing to demonstrate what it entailed and determine whether I had problems with executive functioning, judgment or memory lapses, as well as blood tests to determine things like the level of abnormal proteins that may be present in my brain and my B12 levels. My sense of smell and my genetic risk factors were checked.
This type of testing is not necessary for most people as a matter of routine, but every one of the brain doctors I spoke to recommended that level of examination for Biden.
“The country is watching now, and that assessment gives cause for concern,” Sanjay Gupta said, “and a need for transparent testing.”
Biden’s Last ‘Official’ Health Report
Given Gupta’s article, it’s clear that as president, Biden has undergone scant medical testing.
The last official report in February was a health summary which concluded that the president was “fit for duty.” The White House said a team of 20 doctors, including a neurologist, participated in completing his physical. An “extremely detailed” neurologic exam found nothing consistent with neurological disorders, the summary said.
It also found no evidence of Parkinson’s disease that might explain his stiff gait and decreased expression in his face. Although Parkinson’s disease is the most common cause of parkinsonism – a set of movement symptoms such as stiffness and tremor – there are other causes as well, and it was not clear in the medical report that those had been investigated.
They did find evidence of neuropathy and arthritis in his feet, which can cause numbness, weakness and pain. There was no mention of any sort of cognitive testing.
Why? Plausible deniability, likely.
Biden’s Interview with Stephanopoulos: Is Everything at Risk?
In an effort to stop the bleeding — and “prove” he’s cognitively capable of running for reelection — Biden sat for an interview with former Bill Clinton communications director and current host of ABC’s “This Week,” George Stephanopoulos. The interview will air in its entirety as a primetime special, Friday, July 5, at 8 p.m. ET
Biden Will Try to Prove He’s Not Catatonic in an Extended Interview With George Stephanopoulos
What Is at Stake for Joe Biden Today?
The Bottom Line
Dr. Sanjay Gumpta’s noted reputation in the field of neurology (and CNN”s chief medical correspondent, to boot) and his stark assessment of Joe Biden’s current cognitive condition, followed by his professional recommendation (shared by a multiple of his colleagues), serves to underscore the seriousness faced by not only the Democrat Party, but also to the American people.
