When I read the special prosecutor report saying that President Joe Biden’s memory is “poor,” I knew I would want to find a neurologist to write a First Opinion on the topic. I have so many questions I want an expert to weigh in on. For instance: Should someone without expertise in cognitive health be interviewing someone with the apparent goal of assessing memory? The report made particular mention of the fact that Biden seemed not to know what year his son had died; Biden, in remarks Thursday evening, countered that he just didn’t think it was the special prosecutor’s business.
I’ve tried and struggled before to find experts who are comfortable weighing in on cognitive health and politicians. I suspect one reason is that those who are most qualified are, frankly, tired of the question, which remains the same at core even when the particular circumstances (former President Donald Trump confusing his opponent Nikki Haley and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the new special prosecutor report, a thousand anecdotes from the 2016 and 2020 campaign trails that I’ve now, well, forgotten.) I published a fantastic essay in October by Anna Chodos, a geriatrician, on the problems with age limits for politicians, but that’s slightly different from what I'm looking for this time around.
And, of course, experts are also nervous about weighing in on politics during a fraught year, given the harassment they’ve seen of their colleagues, particularly in the wake of Covid. But I promise, I'm not looking for something that diagnoses anyone from afar, more for a piece that can help readers think through these complicated issues.
I’m still hoping to find someone to weigh in — hopefully this week! — on Biden and memory. Do you have thoughts? Recommendations for potential writers? Please email me.
If you’re interested in the topic, I highly recommend this classic 2017 STAT feature by the late, great Sharon Begley: “Trump wasn’t always so linguistically challenged. What could explain the change?”
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On First Opinion this week: Are you watching the Super Bowl today? Do you worry about CTE? Neurologist Adina Wise writes about that cognitive dissonance. Former Surgeons General Regina Benjamin and Jerome Adams call for the ban on menthol cigarettes to finally be implemented. Neurologist Jason Karlawish examines the mess that is Aduhelm — and why it could happen again. Speaking of regulatory nightmares: the Philips CPAP recall. AI assurance labs are a popular answer to concerns about artificial intelligence in medicine, but they have an equity problem. A new approach to tackling both the mental health crisis and police violence. The unproductive debate over nursing home staff minimums.
Recommendation of the week: The Financial Times’ new podcast “Untold” is starting with a four-part series titled “The Retreat” on the risks that intensive meditation may pose to some people. As with the great podcast “Astray,” “Untold” explores how some seekers may end up in psychological distress.
