Clinton has mild bacterial infection
Campaign also releases cholesterol, mammogram info
Hillary Clinton released more detailed medical information Wednesday that describes the form of pneumonia she’s been diagnosed with as a mild, non-contagious bacterial infection. The campaign also released more details about the results of routine lab tests given to the Democratic presidential nominee, such as blood cholesterol levels and her annual mammogram.
Clinton has been at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., resting since she was recorded leaving a Sept. 11 memorial ceremony Sunday in New York City, stumbling and being held up by her aides. After receiving a CT scan of her chest Friday, Clinton was diagnosed with a small right middlelobe pneumonia, according to a letter released by the campaign from her physician, Lisa Bardack. Clinton is being treated with the antibiotic Levaquin for 10 days.
Sunday’s health incident was preceded by Internet rumors fanned by conservative websites that the Democratic nominee has broader health issues, a narrative the campaign wants to squash after Clinton spent much of August fundraising in private instead of holding public events.
Spokesman Brian Fallon said this week the former secretary of State has no underlying health condition. Clinton suffers from seasonal allergies that developed
into pneumonia, according to her doctor.
Included in the letter Wednesday were the results of additional lab tests, as well as that of an annual mammogram, which was reported as normal. According to Bardack, “the remainder of her complete physical exam was normal, and she is in excellent mental condition.”
Bardack said: “She is recovering well with antibiotics and rest. She continues to remain healthy and fit to serve.”
The campaign released a health letter on Clinton’s running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, written by Brian Monahan, the attending physician of the U.S. Congress, that stated Kaine is in “overall excellent health.”
Bardack placed Clinton’s condition in the context of a number of recent allergy flairs, “a typical pattern for most of her life.” In January, Clinton received a tube in her left ear to treat an infection and sinusitis. On Sept. 2, she was found to have a low-grade fever, congestion and fatigue, conditions that worsened and developed into a cough as she traveled over the following week.
Clinton has come under criticism for not disclosing that she was sick until two days after the pneumonia diagnosis. In an interview Monday night on CNN, Clinton said she did not share her condition earlier because she “didn’t think it was going to be that big a deal” and called on the media to hold Donald Trump to the “same standard” of transparency. She said she thought she “could power through it,” but that “didn’t work out so well.”
Clinton’s history of blood clots has been a focus of attention. She underwent anti-coagulation therapy to dissolve a blood clot and had to wear special glasses to correct double vision for nearly two months in late 2012. She’s had two prior blood clots in her leg, once in 1998 and once in 2009.
Wednesday’s letter said testing in coordination with her hematologist within the past month had come back normal. Trump discussed records from a physical he had last week during an appearance on The Dr.
Oz Show, which is set to air Thursday, according to a summary provided by the show.
The Republican presidential nominee shared information about the exam hours after his campaign signaled he would talk about health matters only in a very general sense. Earlier Wednesday, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told Fox News the results of Trump’s exam would be shared publicly this week.
The statement from the Oz program said Trump’s physical was performed by Harold Bornstein, his personal physician, who proclaimed in a brief letter last year that the real estate mogul would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
At 70, Trump would be the oldest candidate elected president for the first time; Clinton will turn 69 in October.
“The remainder of her complete physical exam was normal, and she is in excellent mental condition.” Lisa Bardack, Hillary Clinton’s physician