Politics

Bachmann releases letter from House Attending Physician regarding migraines

Jonathan Strong Jonathan Strong, 27, is a reporter for the Daily Caller covering Congress. Previously, he was a reporter for Inside EPA where he wrote about environmental regulation in great detail, and before that a staffer for Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA). Strong graduated from Wheaton College (IL) with a degree in political science in 2006. He is a huge fan of and season ticket holder to the Washington Capitals hockey team. Strong and his wife reside in Arlington.
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Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann released a letter Wednesday from the House Attending Physician’s office, confirming that Bachmann suffers “infrequently” from migraines “with aura,” and that she can control them “well” with the use of sumatriptan and odansetron, two “commonly used therapies” to treat the chronic headaches.

The letter’s release comes after The Daily Caller reported late Monday that Bachmann has been hospitalized on at least three occasions due to the headaches. Three people who have worked closely with Bachmann told TheDC migraines regularly debilitate her for periods up to several days.

“You have a well-established diagnosis of migraine headaches with aura for which you have had extensive evaluation by both my office and by a board certified consulting neurologist. Your evaluation has entailed detailed labwork and brain scans all of which are normal,” the July 20 letter from Dr. Brian Monahan says.

“You are overall in good general health,” Monahan adds.

The letter provides new details about Bachmann’s condition, and could quiet some of the questions about her health as she campaigns to be president.

But it does not address Bachmann’s repeated hospitalizations, and no definition is offered for “infrequently” occurring headaches. Bachmann was hospitalized in May, July and October 2010 in connection with the headaches, only once while in Washington, D.C. (Bachmann on defense: I keep a ‘rigorous schedule’)

She also missed the American Spectator magazine’s annual dinner on Nov. 10, 2010 for an unexplained medical emergency. Bachmann had been scheduled to deliver the dinner’s keynote speech, but former Rep. David McIntosh read prepared remarks in her absence.

The letter also advises: “It has not been necessary for you to take daily scheduled medications to manage this condition.” It’s unclear from the letter how often — outside of “daily” — Bachmann takes medication to treat her headaches.