Hillary Clinton promised to unveil more details about her medical history in the wake of her pneumonia diagnosis and near-fainting scare over the weekend. On Wednesday, she followed through with a two-page letter from her physician, Dr. Lisa Bardack, which attempted to address the lingering questions about the Democratic nominee’s health, asserting that her illness is well under control and that her medical regimen is up to speed.
Bardack’s newly-released letter also provides a more detailed picture of Clinton’s medical regimen since her well-documented 2012 fall and concussion, and responds to several reporters’ (this one included) questions about her pneumonia, the drugs she’s taking, and her general well-being.
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The doctor’s note released by Clinton’s campaign last year was already far more detailed than the unusual 2015 missive from Dr. Harold Bornstein, a longtime physician to Republican nominee Donald Trump, which stated that the real estate mogul would be the “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” But Clinton’s pneumonia and questions about her staff’s handling of its disclosure brought the medical concerns back into the limelight, especially since right-wing sites have been pushing macabre conspiracy theories about Clinton’s health for a while now.
Bardack’s new letter seeks to lay those concerns to rest. She reveals that Clinton had “developed symptoms of sinusitis and an ear infection” at the beginning of 2016, but had been successfully treated for the condition with no lasting abnormalities. She went on to note that Clinton’s pneumonia is bacterial, non-contagious, and being effectively treated with antibiotics.
The physician also specified that Clinton has, in fact, received the pneumonia vaccinations recommended for people over the age of 65, and that the dosage of her currently prescribed blood thinner (Coumadin/warfarin) is being closely monitored. (T.V. personalities including Dr. Drew Pinsky had questioned why Clinton was on a relatively old blood medication, but Bardack’s letter suggests Clinton’s hematologist had specifically decided not to switch over to a newer drug.)
You can read Bardack’s full letter here.
Whether or not Clinton’s disclosures will change the narrative around her health remains to be seen. A new Morning Consult poll suggests voters have already started to become more concerned about the former Secretary of State’s medical fitness since the pneumonia revelation—a worry that, so far, has not been echoed for her opponent despite his comparable age and a lack of details about his medical history.
Voters will get some more information about Trump on Thursday, though. The GOP candidate recorded an hour-long interview with TV’s Dr. Mehmet Oz, and reportedly revealed a brief summary of a recent physical during the taping of the show.
