Hillary Clinton’s pneumonia battle fuels conspiracy theories about her ability to become US President
AS the US polls tighten, the Clinton campaign is at risk of becoming undone by health issues, as right wing forces have mounted claims that she’s unfit for the presidency.
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HILLARY Clinton’s near collapse overnight has instantly converted one of the right’s anti-Clinton conspiracy theories about the presidential hopeful’s perilous health into a central campaign issue.
Ms Clinton’s near collapse at a high profile 9/11 memorial event came just a week after she suffered a coughing fit at a rally in Ohio, giving the Trump camp fresh material to claim she is unfit for presidential duties.
Right wing conspiracy theories that Ms Clinton suffers undocumented seizures have never been proven with medical evidence, however even Mr Trump himself has called on his opponent to release her health records.
Two weeks ago, Mr Trump tweeted that Ms Clinton should release detailed health records.
“I think that both candidates, Crooked Hillary and myself, should release detailed medical records. I have no problem in doing so! Hillary?” he wrote.
Ms Clinton’s pneumonia incident comes amid tightening polls as the candidates begin their final two month race to the polls, and ahead of three crucial debates.
A new Washington Post poll puts Ms Clinton with a 46 per cent to 41 per cent lead over Mr Trump, but other recent polls have them as tight as 45 per cent to 43.
The Trump camp is expected to seize on Ms Clinton’s health woes as arsenal in the final race to November 8.
However, neither candidate has provided much detail on their health records.
Mr Trump last year released a statement from his personal doctor, that described his health as “extraordinary”. It included his blood pressure, and revealed he took daily aspirins and statins.
Ms Clinton issued a two page letter from her doctor last July, including details about a concussion and blood clot in her head suffered in 2012.
Her physician said that was fixed in two weeks, however Bill Clinton has previously spoken of it taking six months for his wife to recover.
Just two days ago, the man who wrote the pre-election medical report for Barack Obama declared the American people needed to see more detail on both Ms Clinton and Mr Trump’s medial records.
Dr David Scheiner pointed to the age of the candidates - with Mr Trump 70 and Ms Clinton 68, the pair make this election the one with the oldest duo of major candidates in US history.
Dr Scheiner wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece that Mr Obama’s medical report had only been 276 words, because he was just 47 years old and healthy with nothing of significance in his medical history.
In contrast, he said, republican John McCain, who was 71, had a report that was 1200 words.
“Today the two major candidates for president are each almost as old as McCain was in 2008,” Dr Scheiner said.
“At these ages, stuff begins to happen.”
Dr Scheiner said both candidates had failed to provide enough of substance. He said Ms Clinton’s two page letter from her doctor last year “raised as many questions as it answered”.
He said Mr Trump’s one page letter was “stunningly unprofessional, hastily written (and) contained only minimal medical information”.
Ms Clinton’s spokesperson advised she would cancel a planned trip to California. She was due to spend two days campaigning there, starting Tuesday.
WHAT HAPPENS IF HILLARY DROPS OUT OF THE RACE?
Should Mrs Clinton drop out of the race, the Democratic National Committee must fill her vacancy.
Rules state that there would be a special meeting and that all members of the DNC would be able to vote.
There would not be another round of primaries and the matter would be decided within the party.
It is not clear if Mrs Clinton’s Democratic primary election rival Bernie Sanders would be a candidate. Even Presidents have not been immune to health scares — George W Bush once choked on a pretzel and his father George H W Bush vomited on the Japanese PM and fainted during an official dinner. Meanwhile John F Kennedy had Addison’s disease, a life-threatening lack of adrenal function, and took painkillers, stimulants and sleeping pills for his bad back.
WHAT IS PNEUMONIA?
Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs. Often it’s a bacterial infection that sweeps in after a cold or flu virus. Each year, about one million people in the United States seek hospital care because of pneumonia, and it causes tens of thousands of deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A presidential candidate is at high risk for such an infection, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University.
“Candidates are constantly out in enclosed spaces, face to face with myriads of people,” he said. “It’s an ideal opportunity for the transmission of a respiratory virus.” Added Dr. Stephen Hargarten, head of emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin: “I’m not surprised to hear this happen to someone engaged in the kind of frenetic schedule she has.”
HOW IS IT TREATED?
Pneumonia is commonly treated quickly and effectively with antibiotics. Speaking generally and not about Clinton’s case, Schaffner said patients with a mild pneumonia can recover with antibiotics, a few days of rest and good hydration. That’s especially true of someone who does strenuous work, such as a rigorous campaign schedule.
Based on the available information, he said, “this should not in any way impede her function going forward.” But Clinton does need to take it seriously, some experts said. People over age 65 have a harder time returning to normal than do younger patients. Many people her age need a week or more to recover from even a mild case of pneumonia, said Dr. Sharon Bergquist, an Emory University assistant professor of medicine who specializes in internal medicine.
“The body needs rest. The more she pushes, the harder it is for her to recover,” she said.
Originally published as Hillary Clinton’s pneumonia battle fuels conspiracy theories about her ability to become US President
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