Doctor tells of raid and dictated letter
Aaron Blake analysis
President Donald Trump has never been a model of medical disclosure. Both of his most recent personal doctors have offered unbelievably rosy reviews of his health, omitting or spinning key facts, and both have had their credibility called into question.
We may be finding out why they did what they did.
NBC News has reported on what might be the craziest White House story you’ll read this week. It involves Trump’s colourful longtime personal doctor, Harold Bornstein, who claims that Trump’s bodyguard, a Trump Organisation lawyer and a third man conducted a “raid” of his office in February last year, seizing 35 years of Trump’s medical records. And on top of that, Bornstein now says Trump dictated his own initial doctor’s letter, according to CNN.
The biggest question on the former is whether any laws were broken with the seizure, which Bornstein said left him feeling “raped, frightened and sad”. Bornstein said he wasn’t provided a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) release signed by the patient, Trump, which would be a violation. (An individual told NBC that there was a letter from Trump’s then-White House doctor, Ronny L. Jackson, but that it wouldn’t be sufficient.) The second-biggest takeaway here, though, is how heavy-handed all this was. That may speak to why we still don’t have a completely soberminded review of Trump’s health.
The event that appeared to set in motion the “raid” was Bornstein’s disclosure in a New interview that Trump takes a hair-loss drug, Propecia, along with medication for rosacea.