White House shoots down Parkinson’s speculation with explanation of specialist doctor visits

The former US Army doctor with a specialty in movement disorders who has visited the White House multiple times did so to conduct neurological exams on President Biden as part of his annual physical, Physician to the President Dr Kevin O’Connor has said.

In a memorandum to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released late Monday, O’Connor said Dr Kevin Canard’s visits to the White House clinic were part of his duties as the neurological specialist responsible for the “extremely detailed neurological examination” which Biden underwent during his February 2024 exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

“Seeing patients at the White House is something that Dr Cannard has been doing for a dozen years. Dr Cannard was chosen for this responsibility not because he is a movement disorder specialist, but because he is a highly trained and highly regarded neurologist here at Walter Reed and across the Military Health System, with a very wide expertise which makes him flexible to see a variety of patients and problems,” O’Connor wrote.

O’Connor also said Cannard has been the specialist who examined Biden during each of the annual physicals he has undergone since taking office in January 2021, and noted that Cannard’s findings have been made public “each time” the results of Biden’s physicals have been released.

He added that Cannard also regularly visits the White House Medical Clinic “in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations,” including “many military personnel” who “experience neurological issues related to their service.”

“We value the contributions he has made across the many patients he has treated in support of the White House