Feedback on our recent article, “Hey Joe”, November 25, brought to our attention that many of our followers are not aware of our ability to medically assess a person’s mental abilities.Used most often in the evaluation of dementia patients, specially trained individuals can perform an in-depth evaluation of “higher level” brain function, including the ability to think, learn, remember, problem solve, use information, communicate, as well as interact with other people.
Identification of any mental deficiencies in any aspect of brain function are compared with age matched normals.
Physician Forum believes there should be an amendment to the Constitution whereby the President and anyone in the Presidential line of succession, including candidates to the office, undergo independent, unbiased evaluations in three areas of medicine and release them to the public:
1.All General medical records:These relate to the physical health of the body. Those things you talk to the doctor about during a yearly medical examination. Examples include blood pressure, body weight, sugar diabetes, cholesterol,as well as diseases of body organs. It is all encompassing, specific to the individual, and includes anything related to a person’s health.Currently, releasing this information is common practice, and even Trump complied. However we know his medical records were “doctored” by his own personal medical providers and did not accurately provide a truthful assessment of his overall health. A shameful unprofessional act by any medical provider, which reflects poorly on our entire profession.
2.Psychologic/PsychiatricThis refers to how we feel about ourselves, our surroundings, and how we are able to interact with, and how we feel for others.Examples include our happiness, sadness, depression, anxiety, neuroses, personality disorders, as well as the more serious psychotic disorders.
Unfortunately, when severe several of these conditions may result in suicidal thoughts and actions.
3.Mental/Intelligence/“Higher brain” function as noted above.
Some may consider this suggestion a “slippery slope”, and in fact any change to any system may have unforeseen negative consequences.Limiting it’s application to only the presidency and it’s line of succession, as well as making it an amendment to the Constitution may serve to allay many fears.
In Vice President Joe Biden’s current situation, knowing he is mentally competent to do the job is of utmost importance, and hopefully should go a long way to overcome the concerns many of the electorate share.