Latest news with #mentalacuity
Fox News
11-07-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Joe Biden's osteopathic doctor pleads the Fifth on mental acuity: DO vs MD
As the probe into Joe Biden's mental acuity continues, the former president's personal physician, Kevin O'Connor, DO, made an appearance this week in Washington, D.C., in front of the House Oversight Committee. O'Connor sat down for a closed-door interview on Wednesday with committee staff and panel chair James Comer, R-Ky. — but O'Connor invoked the Fifth Amendment to all questions, save for his name, as Fox News Digital previously reported. In the wake of this, many people have been wondering: What's the difference between a doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) and a doctor of medicine (MD)? Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News' senior medical analyst, confirmed that the capabilities of both a DO and an MD are the same, even when it comes to acknowledging mental decline or diagnosing and screening for prostate cancer. "He's a DO and he's a family practitioner," said Siegel. "With that training, he should know how to screen for prostate cancer." Training as a DO should not "take away" from medical training or medical education, said Siegel, who's an internist — it only adds osteopathic methods such as manipulative treatment. "I'm trained to be able to suss out cognitive decline," said Siegel. "I'm not a specialist in that, but I can certainly screen for that. And so should a family practitioner who went to osteopathic school." He added, "He's a guy who should say, 'Hey, [Biden's] got some cognitive decline. Let me get a neurologist in here.'" As a White House physician, O'Connor's responsibility was to address the medical needs of the president. But DOs have more of a focus on the "mind, body, spirit connection," according to Cleveland Clinic. MDs and DOs have similar schooling, do the same jobs, can prescribe medicine and practice anywhere in the country. Still, DOs approach medicine more holistically, according to the same source. Cleveland Clinic defines osteopathic medicine as treating patients as a whole and improving wellness through education and prevention. DOs also receive extra training in osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM), which is a hands-on method for treating and diagnosing patients. This alternative training and approach don't define a doctor's practice, as DOs use "all types of modern medical treatments," according to Cleveland Clinic — while MDs can also provide whole-person, preventive care. DO training was first developed in 1892 by physician Andrew Taylor Still, MD, who changed his philosophy of medicine after the Civil War, the same source noted. He believed traditional medicine to treat spinal meningitis, which killed three of his children, was ineffective — and developed the concept of osteopathic medicine. In the U.S., as of 2023, there were 154 allopathic medical schools – using medication, surgery and other interventions to treat illnesses – and 38 otheopathic medicine schools, according to Cleveland Clinic. A 2024 report from the American Osteopathic Association found that 57% of DOs practice family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics — compared to 28% of MDs. The number of DOs in the U.S. has been on the rise in the last decade, according to the same report. Nearly 70% of DOs in active practice are under age 45 — and 45% are female. Several U.S. presidents have been under the care of osteopathic physicians in recent years. O'Connor was appointed by Biden in 2021, serving until March 2025 in the role of White House physician. Dr. Sean Barbabella, DO, stepped into the role that same month. He is a decorated Navy physician who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Before becoming physician to President Donald Trump, Barbabella ran the Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina, according to multiple sources. Dr. Sean Conley, DO, served as a physician to Trump during his first term, from 2018 to 2021. House GOP members, including Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, a former White House doctor himself, continue to investigate accusations that Biden's former top White House aides covered up signs of his mental and physical decline while in office, and whether any executive actions were commissioned via autopen without the president's full knowledge. Biden allies have been pushing back on those claims. Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed reporting.
New York Times
09-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Ex-White House Doctor Refuses Questions in G.O.P. Inquiry on Biden's Mental Acuity
Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s White House physician refused on Wednesday to answer questions for a Republican-led congressional investigation into Mr. Biden's mental acuity. The doctor, Kevin O'Connor, cited both physician-patient privilege and his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to a statement that one of his lawyers read to the House Oversight Committee at the start of his scheduled closed-door deposition. Dr. O'Connor, who served all four years as Mr. Biden's doctor in the White House, had been subpoenaed by Republicans on the oversight panel who are investigating whether Mr. Biden and his aides concealed mental deficiencies that made him unable to perform presidential duties. The inquiry includes questions about whether Mr. Biden's staff abused an autopen, a device routinely used by presidents to put their signatures to formal documents, to illegally carry out official actions in his name. Presidents have for decades used an autopen to sign all manner of documents, including major legislation; doing so is legal as long as a president authorizes it. President Trump and his allies have been stoking a theory that Mr. Biden suffered from severe age-related decline that left him incapable of making presidential decisions at all, making any action taken in his name via the device legally invalid. In a statement, Representative James Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the Oversight chairman, blasted Dr. O'Connor for refusing to cooperate and suggested he was trying to hide something. 'It's clear there was a conspiracy to cover up President Biden's cognitive decline after Dr. Kevin O'Connor, Biden's physician and family business associate, refused to answer any questions and chose to hide behind the Fifth Amendment,' he said. 'The American people demand transparency, but Dr. O'Connor would rather conceal the truth.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Top Biden aide admits to Congress she directed autopen signatures without knowing who gave final approval
A former top aide to President Joe Biden said she was authorized to direct autopen signatures but was unaware of who in the president's inner circle was giving her final clearance, according to a source familiar with the aide's closed-door testimony in front of Congress Tuesday. Neera Tanden, the former director of Biden's Domestic Policy Council, testified for hours Tuesday during an interview in front of the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the former president's mental acuity and his use of an automatic signature tool that allowed aides to sign pardons, memos and other important documents on Biden's behalf. During Tanden's interview before Congress, which lasted more than five hours, she told lawmakers that, in her role as staff secretary and senior advisor to the former president between 2021 and 2023, she was authorized to direct autopen signatures on behalf of Biden, an Oversight Committee official told Fox News. The system of approval used, according to Tanden's testimony relayed to Fox News, was inherited from previous administrations. Who Is Neera Tanden? The Controversial Dem Operative Who Testified On Biden's Mental Acuity But Tanden, who said she had limited interactions with Biden, described an approval process that left her in the dark about who specifically was giving final approval on the decisions to use the automatic signature tool, sources told Fox News. Tanden testified that to get approval for the use of autopen signatures she would send decision memos to members of Biden's inner circle. However, she added that she was not aware of what actions or approvals took place between the time she sent the decision memo and the time she received it back with the necessary approval. Read On The Fox News App When Tanden was asked whether she ever discussed Biden's health or his fitness to serve as president during her time as a top aide, including during the period of the former president's widely criticized debate performance last summer, Tanden said she did not. Lawmakers laid out a list of names of officials she could have potentially discussed it with, and Tanden said "no" to each name, according to a source familiar with her closed-door testimony. Biden Insists 'I Made The Decisions' As Republicans Investigate White House Autopen Use Tanden did not speak to reporters on the way to the Capitol Tuesday morning. Upon exiting, she expressed her willingness to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. "I just spoke with the House Oversight Committee, Majority and Minority Council. I answered every question, was pleased to discuss my public service and it was a thorough process. And I'm glad I answered everyone's question," Tanden told reporters. When subsequently asked whether there was any effort to hide Biden's condition, Tanden replied, "Absolutely not." In addition to Tanden, Biden's former White House physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, will appear for a deposition in front of House Oversight lawmakers after being subpoenaed by Republicans. In addition to O'Connor and Tanden, the Oversight Committee plans to hear from Anthony Bernal, who served as a senior advisor to former first lady Jill Biden; Annie Tomasini, who was Biden's former deputy chief of staff; and Ashley Williams, who was the former deputy director of Oval Office operations under Biden. Oversight Republicans are also seeking interviews with officials who were some of Biden's closest confidants, including former chief of staff Ron Klain and Anita Dunn, a former senior advisor to the president for article source: Top Biden aide admits to Congress she directed autopen signatures without knowing who gave final approval
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'He's lost it': Newsom slams Trump's mental acuity, echoing president's criticism of Biden
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is questioning President Donald Trump's mental acuity in the pair's running clash over immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, echoing the president's campaign criticism of his predecessor, Joe Biden. Newsom said Trump commended the National Guard early on June 8 for quelling violence before troops arrived on the scene, made up a conversation about discussing the deployment and got the date of their phone conversation wrong. 'They weren't even deployed and he claimed victory. He's lost it. He hasn't lost a step – and I saw him trip on the steps today,' Newsom told Fox News in Los Angeles on June 8. 'This is serious. He is not the same person that I dealt with just four years ago. He's incapable of even a train of thought. He's making things up.' For his part, Trump has called Newsom 'grossly incompetent' and said he could be arrested for obstructing federal authorities enforcing immigration laws. Newsom's criticism of Trump echoed how the president attacked Biden's mental and physical ability. Trump repeatedly referred to Biden tripping on March 19, 2021, while climbing the steps of Air Force One, which his press secretary at the time blamed on the wind, according to ABC News. Trump ordered an investigation of Biden's use of an autopen to sign official documents while in office. Newsom mentioned Trump stumbling on June 8 while boarding Air Force One. Newsom's press office mocked Trump for misspeaking, such as on June 11 when the president said the governor's 'primarily crime is running for governor.' The Trump's 16-minute call to Newsom was early June 7 on the East Coast or late June 6 – the first day of protests – on the West Coast, according to a call log he gave Fox News. Newsom has ridiculed Trump for referring to that call happening days later. 'Trump doesn't even know what day it is,' Newsom said June 10 on social media. Trump has since told reporters he threatened during that call to deploy the National Guard if Newsom didn't do more to combat the protests. But Newsom contends the guard never came up during the conversation. 'Stone-cold liar,' Newsom told Fox News in Los Angeles. 'He made that up, like he makes up so many other things. He never said that.' This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Newsom slams Trump's mental ability in immigration feud
The Independent
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘He's not all there': Gavin Newsom questions Trump's mental state as he blasts president's response to LA protests
California Governor Gavin Newsom raised concerns about President Donald Trump 's mental acuity on Thursday, saying the president fabricated details of a conversation about federalizing the state's National Guard in Los Angeles. Newsom accused the president of either deliberately lying or being confused about a conversation the two officials had after Trump told the New York Post he called Newsom to warn him that he planned to utilize the California National Guard to control protests. The governor sharply accused Trump of being a 'stone-cold liar' on The Daily podcast, claiming Trump never brought up the National Guard during their conversation. '[He] starts making up all these things he claimed he told me about, which honestly starts to disturb me on a different level, that maybe he actually believed he said those things and he's not all there. I mean it,' Newsom said. 'He, literally, a few days later… claimed he had another conversation with me,' Newsom said of the president who turns 79 years old on Saturday. Concern about the mental acuity of the president has been top-of-mind for the media and some voters since it became a major issue for former president Joe Biden. Trump often pointed to Biden's jumbled speech and rigid stance as signs of physical or mental unfitness. Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, told Axios that Newsom's attacks on Trump are "rich, coming from Gavin Newsom, who in this past election tried to gaslight and lied to the American public about Joe Biden's decline." "Gavin Newsom will never be president, even as he tries to peddle these lies," Cheung said. Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas, who served as Physician to the President under Trump's first term, told Axios that Trump "is the healthiest president this nation has ever seen." 'Frankly, given President Trump's unparalleled work ethic and this administration's commitment to transparency, it's abundantly clear that Governor Newsom, the 'sanctuary state' governor, is indulging in nothing more than petty politics. He, just like most Democrats, needs to look himself in the mirror and answer this: Where was the concern when the cognitive disaster, Joe Biden, was president,' Jackson said. Over the last week, Newsom has been on a press campaign to refute Trump's use of the military to thwart anti-immigration raid protests in Los Angeles. The governor says it's an unnecessary use of the California National Guard and Marines for incidents of civil unrest in a small area in downtown Los Angeles. Trump controversially invoked a rarely-used presidential power to federalize the state's National Guard, against the wishes of Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Newsom has filed a lawsuit against Trump, claiming the president's actions were illegal. Trump, who has defended his decision to federalize the California National Guard, has pushed back on Newsom's assertions, calling the governor 'incompetent' and 'Newscum.' Trump has characterized the Los Angeles protests as violent and potentially dangerous for ICE law enforcement to carry out their duties. The president took his defense a step further on Wednesday when he claimed he warned Newsom about using the National Guard. 'When I talked to him, he never brought it up,' Newsom told the New York Times. 'He lied. He lied. On my mother and dad's grave, I don't mess around when I say this, he lied. Stone-cold liar. Don't think for a second he told the truth.' Newsom said their phone conversation last week was 'incredibly cordial' and that he was in communication with Susie Wiles, the White House Chief of Staff, about cooperating. The governor said he woke up the following day to name-calling. 'Hours later, to your point, I wake up and I'm 'Newscum' again,' Newsom said. 'It's the president of the United States calling someone 'scum.' 'Newscum' which is, for what it's worth, what I think a 7th grader used to call me.'
