Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump's Former Doctor Says President's Aides Raided His Office Following Interview About Hair-Growth Drug
NBC News: Trump Doctor Harold Bornstein Says Bodyguard, Lawyer 'Raided' His Office, Took Medical Files
In February 2017, a top White House aide who was Trump's longtime personal bodyguard, along with the top lawyer at the Trump Organization and a third man, showed up at the office of Trump's New York doctor without notice and took all the president's medical records. The incident, which Dr. Harold Bornstein described as a "raid," took place two days after Bornstein told a newspaper that he had prescribed a hair growth medicine for the president for years. (Schecter, 5/1)
The New York Times: Trump’s Former Doctor Says Office Was Raided And Files Seized
He told NBC that he decided to speak out after seeing reports that Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the president’s nominee to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, had been accused of doling out medications and behaving inappropriately while serving as the White House physician. Dr. Jackson withdrew from consideration for the post shortly afterward. (Rogers and Altman, 5/1)
The Hill: Trump’s Ex-Doctor Says Trump Associates 'Raided' His Office
Bornstein said the incident, which he described as a "raid," took place days after he told The New York Times that Trump takes Propecia, a drug for men with enlarged prostates that helps with hair growth. Trump's longtime doctor said the president cut ties with him after he made the comments to the Times. (Samuels, 5/1)
CNN: Bornstein Claims Trump Dictated The Glowing Health Letter
When Dr. Harold Bornstein described in hyperbolic prose then-candidate Donald Trump's health in 2015, the language he used was eerily similar to the style preferred by his patient. It turns out the patient himself wrote it, according to Bornstein. "He dictated that whole letter. I didn't write that letter," Bornstein told CNN on Tuesday. "I just made it up as I went along." (Marquardt, 5/1)
NPR: Doctor: Trump Dictated Letter Attesting To His 'Extraordinary' Health
"If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency," Dr. Harold Bornstein, a gastroenterologist from Lenox Hospital in New York, wrote at the time. The letter said that a recent medical exam showed "only positive results" for the then-candidate and that "his physical strength and stamina are extraordinary." (Neuman, 5/2)
The Washington Post: Harold Bornstein: Exiled From Trumpland, Doctor Now ‘Frightened And Sad’
“I feel raped — that’s how I feel,” the doctor dramatically said. “Raped, frightened, and sad. I couldn’t believe anybody was making a big deal out of a drug to grow his hair that seemed to be so important. And it certainly is not a breach of medical trust to tell somebody they take Propecia to grow their hair. What’s the matter with that?” (Swenson, 5/2)
