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Thursday, Feb 16 2023

Full Issue

Biden's Annual Physical Takes Place In Spotlight Of Possible 2024 Campaign

President Joe Biden heads to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Thursday for yearly physical exams. The White House promises transparency on the outcome in the shadow of an expected presidential campaign in which Biden's age is already an issue raised by opponents.

President Joe Biden, 80, will undergo a closely watched physical examination on Thursday, ahead of an expected announcement that he is seeking a second four-year term. Biden's session with the doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, Maryland, will be his second extensive exam since he took office in January 2021. His last physical and colonoscopy, in November 2021, showed the president to be a "healthy, vigorous, 78-year-old male," his doctors said. He had a polyp removed from his colon. (Holland, 2/16)

When Barack Obama underwent a routine physical exam as president, his doctor noted that he had moved on from cigarettes to nicotine gum. Bill Clinton鈥檚 doctor included details about his fluctuating weight. Richard Nixon鈥檚 doctor complained that he didn鈥檛 exercise enough. There is no legal requirement to follow when it comes to the president鈥檚 checkups, and the amount of information released has always been up to the man himself. But President Biden鈥檚 exam on Thursday will get extra scrutiny because, at 80, he is America鈥檚 oldest president. (Kanno-Youngs, 2/15)

Nikki Haley, the newly minted Republican presidential candidate, called on Wednesday for mandatory 鈥渕ental competency tests鈥 for politicians older than 75, an implied dig at President Biden and her onetime boss, former President Trump. (Greenwood, 2/15)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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