Capitol Hill physician: McConnell’s icy performance in front of the cameras does not indicate seizure problem or stroke.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, 81, of Kentucky, was evaluated by a team of neurologists after two recent health scares in front of television cameras, and the Capitol’s attending physician, Brian Monahan, wrote in a new letter that there is no evidence that McConnell has a seizure disorder, a stroke, or a movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease.

McConnell’s office released the new letter on Tuesday, after he had a second public meltdown in as many months, casting doubt on his ability to maintain his position as leader of the Senate Republican Conference. According to a source familiar with the situation, four neurologists examined McConnell after he froze to death in Covington, Kentucky, last week.

In his letter released on Tuesday, Monahan revealed that he had met with McConnell’s neurologists and done multiple tests on the senator, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and an electroencephalogram (EEG).

It was stated in the letter that “there is no evidence that you have a seizure disorder” and that “there is no evidence that you experienced a stroke, TIA,” which are all terms used to describe a stroke or a similar event.

CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explained on Tuesday’s “Anderson Cooper 360” that an EEG study is a moment in time.

To which Gupta added, “Someone could have a seizure, then have a normal EEG, and have a seizure later,” implying that McConnell’s tests, while thorough and crucial, were not conclusive.
They can tell you a lot, but they can’t rule out the possibility of a seizure entirely. He remarked, “Again, they can just give you that instant in time.

When asked about the freezing incident, McConnell said, “one particular moment of my time back home has received its fair share of attention and the press over the past week.”

“But I assure you, August was a busy and productive month for me and my staff back in the Commonwealth,” he added in Tuesday’s floor speech. McConnell talked about the events he went to over the break, halting just once to get a drink of water.

After their weekly meeting on Tuesday night, the Senate GOP leadership team rejected concerns over McConnell’s health.
Texas Senator John Cornyn told CNN that McConnell would discuss his health during a Wednesday closed-door meeting with Republican senators.
“I think he understands,” Cornyn said of McConnell after his speech to the conference at lunch on Wednesday. Transparency, he seems to have realised, is on his side and helps put to rest a good deal of unnecessary speculation.

I don’t even want to start guessing about that,” Senate Republican Whip John Thune told CNN when asked if he supports McConnell remaining as leader in the next Congress. But I fully back him, and I expect the conference to do the same.McConnell’s prolonged periods of silence are puzzling, but the reasons for them remain a mystery.

The Republican leader’s staff had previously explained the two instances of paralysis as “lightheadedness,” and Monahan had written in an earlier letter that dizziness is “not uncommon” among concussion patients. After falling and injuring his head in a Washington, DC, hotel in March, McConnell was sidelined from the Senate for about six weeks due to his concussion and broken ribs.

The Senate will resume its five-week break on Tuesday, and Republican senators will likely be asked if they think the Republican leader can keep leading his conference as he has for the past 16 years. This is longer than any other party leader in Senate history. It is widely assumed that McConnell will serve as leader through the end of the current Congress in 2021, but his continued service in the 116th Congress, which will begin in 2025, is increasingly in doubt.
Collins, a Republican senator, said she and McConnell spoke the day after the latest freezing incident, and she believes he is “fully prepared” to manage his work.

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When questioned by CNN if she was worried about McConnell’s health, the Republican from Maine responded, “I do not.” Later that day, I had a conversation with Senate Majority Leader McConnell. It sounded like he was doing OK. We discussed getting back to work this week, and I have every confidence in his ability to carry out his responsibilities.

According to Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney, even if Mitch McConnell takes a 20-second “checkout” every day, he’s still doing “a pretty darn good job” otherwise.

While it’s true that we could anticipate Mitch McConnell to “checkout” for 20 seconds every day, “the reality is that he does a pretty darn good job” during the remaining 86,380 seconds.

Not many Republicans in the Senate bought McConnell’s justification, though. Sen. Rand Paul, a fellow Republican from Kentucky, criticised the dehydration diagnosis as insufficient, stating that, based on his 25 years of practise, “it doesn’t look like dehydration.”

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville expressed concern that McConnell might not be able to do his job after a concussion earlier this year, saying as much in an interview with CNN.

Tuberville has indicated that he hopes McConnell will remain leader, but that he wants to hear from the Kentucky Republican during Wednesday’s entire conference meeting.

Many responsibilities will fall under the leader’s purview. What about his capability? Just imagine yourself in the position of quarterback. Ex-football coach at Auburn University: “I hope he can.

Concussions can have lasting effects on children, and Tuberville has seen this firsthand in his line of work. You don’t play them again because of what happened. You need to be 100 percent healthy before returning to action. And it’s clear that he’s not feeling 100%.”

It has been clarified that McConnell was advised by the Capitol physician that no proof exists to support the claim that the senator suffers from a seizure problem.