The health of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have become a major focus of the election. Mystery continues to shadow Trump’s claims of physical excellence, and Clinton’s recent collapse and pneumonia diagnoses have further fanned the flames of the conspiracies saying her health is in dire condition. In the name of transparency, both sides of the aisle have called for the candidates to release their medical records. Do voters and politicians really care about Clinton and Trump’s health though? The Head of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Langone Medical Center Art Caplan says no.
“This whole thing is politics,” said Caplan on Boston Public Radio Wednesday. “If we really cared about the health of the candidates, which I don’t think we do, then we would have them assessed by an independent board… they can look at the records, they can do the exam, and they can give us the general report independently and objectively. If we cared about that, if the candidates cared about that, that is what they would be talking about.”
Caplan says that this will never happen. If the candidates used an independent board, they would risk having unwanted medical transparency and possibly even disqualification. On top of that, Caplan thinks the American people just don’t care enough about the candidate’s health. “We do not make health our top priority. I still think people at the end of the day are going to vote on issues,” Caplan said.
“At the end of the day, you don’t really have to be Hercules to be a politician.”
Listen to the complete interview with the Head of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Langone Medical Center Art Caplan above.
