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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden remains “fit” to conduct his duties as president, according to a medical memo released by the White House following a routine physical exam on Thursday.
“President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency,” White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in a five-page memo.
O’Connor said his assessment was based on a “comprehensive review” of Biden’s medical history and a detailed physical examination that included specialty consultations at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
After a dermatology consultation, one small lesion on Biden’s chest was removed and sent for biopsy, O’Connor said.
Biden’s previous physical was in November 2021. He was originally expected to have the most recent one in January, but it was postponed due to schedule conflicts, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this month.
Biden was 78 years old at the time of the November 2021 physical. At that time, he had a routine exam and a colonoscopy, which required sedation, at Walter Reed Medical Center. This time, he did not have a colonoscopy, Jean-Pierre said.
The examination took about 3 hours, Jean-Pierre said Thursday.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News earlier in the day, Biden described his exam by saying: “Well, everything really went well. God, love him. Thank God for small favors.”
In 2021, Biden remained “fit for duty” and could carry out his responsibilities “without any exemptions or accommodations,” O’Connor wrote in a six-page memo.
O’Connor also said then that an “extremely detailed neurologic exam” showed no disorders, such as the possibility of a stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s.
The 2021 exam, however, revealed mild stiffness in Biden’s movements, particularly in his feet, O’Connor said. He said the president would temporarily wear custom orthotics to correct the issue. O’Connor also prescribed physical therapy and exercise to improve the president’s flexibility.
Biden, now 80, hasn’t explicitly said he plans to run for a second term. He is expected to make a decision and announcement soon.
If Biden runs again, he’ll be 81 during the 2024 presidential election and would be 86 at the end of a full second term.
Before his 2021 exam, his previous full medical assessment was publicly released in 2019 by his campaign when he was running for the Democratic nomination. At the time, Biden was described by O’Connor of The George Washington University as a “healthy, vigorous, 77-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief.”
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