WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Hoping to put the issue of her health behind her as she gets ready to return to the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton on Wednesday released an updated review of her physical fitness and details about a recent bout of pneumonia.
“She is recovering well with antibiotics and rest,” said her doctor, Lisa Bardack, in a letter released by her campaign. “She continues to remain healthy and fit to serve as President of the United States.”
The details made public by the Democratic presidential nominee included a description of the pneumonia diagnosis she received last week. Her illness became public after she left Sunday’s 9/11 memorial service in New York early and was seen on video staggering while getting into a van.
The health episode fueled long-simmering conservative conspiracy theories about Clinton’s health and provided a fresh line of attack for rival Donald Trump, who has frequently questioned whether Clinton has the stamina to serve as commander in chief.
At a Wednesday rally in Canton, Ohio, Trump noted the room filled with 5,000 people was hot.
“You think Hillary would be able to stand up here for an hour and do this?” he asked. “I don’t think so.”
The Republican nominee, meanwhile, handed over a one-page summary of a recent physical exam to the celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz while taping an episode of Oz’s talk show. The show airs today.
The letter from Bardack, the chair of internal medicine at CareMount Medical in Mount Kisco, N.Y., said a chest scan revealed the candidate had “mild, non-contagious bacterial pneumonia.” She was treated with a 10-day course of Levaquin, an antibiotic used to treat infections.
The letter says the illness stemmed from a bout of seasonal allergies that developed into an upper respiratory tract infection and cough. Clinton’s pneumonia symptoms began around the start of this month, and she saw Bardack on Sept. 2 for a low-grade fever, congestion and fatigue.
The letter also notes that in January, during the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, Clinton received treatment for a sinus and ear infection that included placing a drainage tube in her left ear. A CT scan of her brain and sinuses showed no abnormalities and mild chronic sinus inflammation.
Clinton, 68, has blood pressure of 100 over 70 — within healthy levels and not signaling the need for any medications. She has also had a normal mammogram and breast ultrasound, according to the letter.
The letter from Clinton’s doctor made no mention of her weight, a key part of any medical exam, nor did a letter released last year.
“These numbers suggest she’s a healthy 68-year-old woman with a very favorable cardiovascular risk profile,” said Dr. Mark Creager, director of the Dartmouth-Hitchkock heart and vascular center in Lebanon, N.H., and a past president of the American Heart Association.
Testing that shows no evidence of plaque building up in her arteries “is all very reassuring,” he said.
Clinton has spent the past three days out of the public eye, recuperating at her home. She’ll return to the campaign trail Thursday.
“She’s feeling great and I think she’ll be back out there tomorrow,” former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday, when he stepped in for his wife at a scheduled campaign event in Las Vegas. “It’s a crazy time we live in, you know, when people think there’s something unusual about getting the flu.”
Vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine is in “overall excellent health,” according to a letter the campaign released Wednesday from his doctor, Brian Monahan, the physician of Congress.
Clinton’s campaign used the letters to argue that she’s gone far beyond Trump in disclosing details about her personal life. Beyond health records, Clinton has released nearly four decades of tax returns; Trump has refused to make his filings public.
“It’s fair to say the public now knows more about Hillary Clinton than nearly anyone in public life,” said manager Robby Mook.
