Is Hillary Clinton Medically Unfit to Serve?
Aug 10, 2016
By Jane M. Orient, M.D.
Some Republicans as well as Democrats have used the term “unfit to serve” about Donald Trump, based on things he said, and what they assume he might have meant.
Surely his style can be abrasive and blunt. But a huge number of ordinary Americans cheer him, probably because he said what they were thinking. They don’t have an evil, ungenerous, uncompassionate, racist, bigoted heart, and they assume he is like them.
They are sick of being pushed around and disrespected by the politically correct crowd who are hypersensitive about almost everything--but constantly spew profane, obscene, and vulgar language that demeans American and Christian culture and blames it for all the world’s evil.
In the past, others have spoken forcefully and unapologetically about things nobody wanted to hear about: Winston Churchill, for example. A lot of proper Englishmen thought he was unfit—until they saw the truth of his words.
With Trump, some people are even tossing out psychiatric diagnoses. But keep in mind that a lot of them think conservatives, Christians, and pro-life advocates are crazy too.
Strangely silent is the mainstream media about the fitness of the Democrat candidate. And causes for concern are growing. Without considering any statements she has made or positions she has taken, and without presuming to speculate on psychiatric diagnoses, one can point to certain observations.
There’s the photograph of Secretary Clinton’s difficulty walking up some steps. Now inability to climb stairs does not necessarily disqualify a person for public office. However, neither she nor people with her apparently anticipated a problem. The people helping her seem to be preventing a fall. Did she simply trip? Or was it a seizure or a stroke?
Videos widely circulated on the internet are, if authentic, very concerning. One shows prolonged, inappropriate laughter; another, strange head movements. In a third, she appeared momentarily dazed and confused, and lost her train of thought. Reportedly, she has a volcanic temper. (This is probably not new.)
A man who stays close to her, who is reportedly not a Secret Service officer, was photographed carrying something in his hand that purportedly might have been an autoinjector of Valium.
While we don’t have Mrs. Clinton’s medical records, it is widely stated that she experienced a fall that caused a concussion. Since then, she is sometimes seen wearing eyeglasses with prisms, as are used to correct double vision.
Concussions often cause traumatic brain injury, which might not be visualized on standard CT or MRI. Many of our veterans who experienced blast injury from improvised explosive devices suffer from it. These are some symptoms: difficulty thinking, attention deficits, confusion, memory problems, frustration, mood swings, emotional outbursts, agitation, headaches, difficulties with balance and coordination, and seizures. Many veterans with such an injury cannot hold a job or interact normally with their families.
Obviously, it would be very dangerous for a person subject to symptoms like this to be dealing with foreign leaders or making critical decisions. The President of the United States may have to make world-changing decisions on a moment’s notice. For example, should we launch nuclear-armed missiles? And if the Commander in Chief is confused, who will make the call?
The U.S. has had problems with incompetent leaders in the White House before. Mrs. Woodrow Wilson (the “First First Lady President”) was effectively President for the last year and a half of her husband’s term after he suffered a disabling stroke. She managed to conceal the seriousness of Wilson’s condition for a long time. This was the reason for the 25th amendment to provide for replacing the President in case of disability.
While the U.S. government knows more and more about our medical histories and other aspects of our lives, many details about the President are a secret. The press appears to care more about the tax returns of Republican candidates than the medical records of Democrat Presidents or candidates. And Secretary Clinton’s public appearances have been rather carefully controlled.
Is it conceivable that Hillary supporters would really be voting for Huma Abedin, Clinton’s top aide, or for the First First Husband President, Bill Clinton? The American people are entitled to know the objective medical facts about Secretary Clinton.
Jane M. Orient, M.D. obtained her undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1974. She completed an internal medicine residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital and University of Arizona Affiliated Hospitals and then became an Instructor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a staff physician at the Tucson Veterans Administration Hospital. She has been in solo private practice since 1981 and has served as Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) since 1989. She is currently president of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. Since 1988, she has been chairman of the Public Health Committee of the Pima County (Arizona) Medical Society. She is the author of YOUR Doctor Is Not In: Healthy Skepticism about National Healthcare, and the second through fourth editions of Sapira's Art and Science of Bedside Diagnosis, published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
