CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner on Monday reacted to the latest “laughable” news surrounding President Donald Trump and his apparent health issues, and started with the confusing comments from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Trump visited Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, in October for his second “yearly” check-up this year. Leavitt told reporters Monday that he had a “preventative MRI” to examine his heart and abdomen, which Reiner firmly objected to on “News Central.”
“Well, there really is no preventative cardiac MRI,” he told guest host Boris Sanchez.
“This is not a standard test for an 80-year-old man to undergo advanced imaging,” Reiner continued. “Boris, the whole note has kind of a weird and defensive, evasive tone to it. First of all, this is not part of the president’s comprehensive physical examination.”
Reiner noted that Trump had a check-up in April and another in July. Trump recently told reporters that the doctor gave him the “best result.” His physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, said Monday that the president is in “excellent health.”
Trump told reporters Sunday that he wouldn’t mind the “perfect” results being made public.
Reiner, who served as cardiologist for former Vice President Dick Cheney, said Monday that these developments differ starkly from Trump’s first administration, where he “only underwent one comprehensive physical exam” per year, as most presidents do.
“Dr. Barbabella, the president’s physician, states that he underwent advanced imaging,” he added. “Well, what specific advanced imaging did the president have? Was it an MRI, as the president said? Was it a CT? Did he have both? Why not just spell it out?”
A memo released by the White House Office of Communications said the “advanced imaging” was preventative. Reiner said this is “as if a patient came in for a chest X-ray, and then I only told people that the patient underwent simple radiologic imaging.”
The physician went on to suggest that this latest check-up was “obviously” performed as a result of “some clinical concern,” noting Trump is almost 80 years old, “So instead of this kind of evasive, almost laughable kind of note, just spell out what happened.”
Trump was diagnosed in July with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition where the leg veins are too damaged to properly send blood back up to the heart. Reiner noted that it’s generally “benign,” but that this could be a reason for the multiple check-ups.
“Yes, you can use MRI to image the heart, to look for a thickening or stiffness, or infiltrative diseases of the heart,” he said. “So if his team was doing it for that reason, well, that’s important to know. And that’s a more significant issue than simple preventative imaging.”
Reiner concluded, “But again, it just doesn’t seem to fit with reality and, you know, I think most physicians would basically agree that advanced imaging is not a routine part of an executive physical for a man or a woman of any age.”
