President Joe Biden underwent his annual physical examination Thursday, with his physician deeming him “fit for duty.”
Biden, who is the oldest president in U.S. history, arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after 9 a.m., and exited after 12 p.m. following an approximate 3-hour evaluation.
“The President remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations,” Biden’s physician Kevin O’Connor wrote in a statement.
Biden’s exams included optometry, dentistry, an exam of his feet, ankle end spine, podiatry, physical therapy, neurology, cardiology, radiology and dermatology.
“The most notable interval history” for Biden was him being positive for COVID-19 this year, O’Connor wrote, but the president is not experiencing any “long COVID” symptoms.
He experiences some symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux, seasonal allergies and a stiff gait, the statement read. Biden also had a skin lesion removed from his chest during the examination, and it is being sent in for analysis.
For Biden’s neurological status, O’Connor wrote an extremely detailed neurologic exam was “again reassuring in that there were no findings which would be consistent with any cerebellar or other central neurological disorder, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or or ascending lateral sclerosis,” noting the president will be undergoing physical therapy to address “general flexibility” and “proprioceptive maneuvers.”
The last time the president underwent an extensive physical exam was in November of 2021, after which a physician’s report said Biden “remains a healthy, vigorous, 78-year old” and is “fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.”
US President Joe Biden makes his way to board Marine One before departing from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on February 16, 2023. – President Biden will undergo a physical examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center this morning. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
He underwent a colonoscopy during the 2021 physical, during which Vice President Kamala Harris assumed power while he was under anesthesia. The physician remarked that Biden’s gait was “stiffer” than it was a year ago, and that he suffers from “a-fib with normal ventricular response, hyperlipidemia, gastroesophageal reflux, seasonal allergies, spinal arthritis and mild sensory peripheral neuropathy of both feet,” according to the summary.
Polls indicate that a majority of Americans are “concerned” about Biden’s mental health, and 54 House Republicans called on the president in July to take a cognitive test amid the concern. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Joe Biden Has Signs Of Dementia, Ben Carson Says In Informal Assessment)
In a recent interview, Biden said he would consider his health in his decision to run in 2024.
“I would be completely, thoroughly honest with the American people if I thought there was any health problem, anything that would keep me from being able to do the job. And and, so we’ll see. But, you know, I just — I think people have to just watch me,” Biden said in an interview with PBS.