Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have been unusually secretive when it comes to details about their health, according to the New York Times.
The Times described this lack of transparency as “a particularly striking departure” given that both candidates are senior citizens. Trump recently turned 70, and Clinton will turn 69 in October. They constitute the oldest pairing of major party presidential candidates in history.
Clinton and Trump both released brief medical summaries in 2015, but have yet to offer more details. Previously, candidates from Mitt Romney and John McCain to John Kerry and Al Gore have provided much more information to the public and have even allowed their doctors to be interviewed.
The Times report also notes what appears to be a discrepancy between the account provided by Hillary’s doctor of the concussion the candidate suffered in 2012, and the account provided by Bill Clinton. In the health summary released in 2015, Hillary’s doctor said the symptoms of the injury were resolved within two months. However, Bill Clinton has said the head injury, which was brought on by a blood clot on Hillary’s brain, “required six months of very serious work to get over.”
Medical experts think the public deserves to know more about the health of both candidates, the Times reports:
Doctors and medical experts said they had rarely seen so few details or updated information about the health of presidential nominees.
“Voters deserve far more information from Clinton and Trump about their health than we have now,” said Dr. Burton Lee, who was the elder George Bush’s personal physician during his four years as president. “The public has a right to know, but you just don’t have transparency with these two candidates on much of anything. That’s a given.”
Lawrence O. Gostin, a lawyer on the faculty of medicine at Georgetown, said Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump had both fallen short of releasing up-to-date medical information, which he described as “extremely important,” given their age.
Trump, whose health has been described (by his gastroenterologist) as “astonishingly excellent,” does not appear to be living a very healthy lifestyle on the campaign trail. He eats a copious amount of fast food, for example. He is not someone you might describe as “skinny.”
Trump has also cancelled a number of upcoming campaign events without explaining, raising questions:
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