Dr. Jennifer Gunter, OB/GYN, picked apart a number of issues. For one thing, before you even get to any of the stuff Bornstein says about Trump’s supposed health, the whole thing is just unprofessional as hell. Bornstein’s website URL in the header doesn’t work. It’s very uncommon for a doctor to put an email address in a letter, as they don’t want patients using non-secure forms of communication. Most notably, there’s no “section” of gastroenterology at Lenox Hill Hospital, there’s a “division,” and contrary to his signature, Bornstein isn’t a member of it.
Also, the letter starts with a typo:
With regard to Trump’s “only positiver results” of his recent medical examination, Dr. Gunter writes:
“Only positive results” is gibberish. Some tests are good if they are positive and some are bad if they are positive. Some results are just not binary. For example, a hemoglobin (blood count) is a number and not positive or negative.
What are “astonishingly excellent” laboratory test results? I’m a doctor, and I don’t know. Is it astonishing that a 70-year-old man has normal results? All his results are exactly average which is good — but wait, I thought his tests are all positive?
Speaking on CNN’s “New Day,” Dr. Sanjay Gupta echoed a lot of Dr. Gunter’s concerns about Trump’s medical letter. Most concerning? Bornstein is misrepresenting his credentials. His signature lists him as a fellow at the College of American Gastroenterology (F.C.A.G.), but according to the college, he hasn’t been a fellow there in more than 20 years.
Both doctors also found the hyperbolic bit about Trump, if elected, being “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency” the most astonishing.
“How do you know that?” Dr. Gupta asked. “How would you — that’s unknowable! One is part doctor, one part historian. That type is hyperbole is typically never used. Strength and stamina — you know when we measure strength, you can actually measure strength. None of that objective data was in the letter.”
“Dr. Bornstein is not a medical historian who runs a presidential health archive,” Dr. Gunter concurred. “And, obviously, Washington and Lincoln never had their PSA checked for comparison.”
Given this evidence, it seems probable that there’s more going on with Trump’s health than he’s telling us. The dude eats McDonald’s and KFC multiple times a day, yells all the time, and was last seen exercising some time in the late ’80s — none of that can be good for you. Are we saying Trump’s going to drop dead at any minute? It’s certainly possible. |
