Trump health update: Major drug that POTUS has taken for years missing from medical records, raising serious concerns
Donald Trump has removed a widely used hair-loss treatment from his publicly disclosed medications—and the reason remains unclear.
Finasteride, an anti-balding medication marketed as Propecia, is taken by millions of men in the U.S. annually, yet it has not been listed in any of the president’s medical reports since he resumed his position in the White House last January, according to the Washington Post. This absence includes his most recent report, which was published last week.
The report states that Trump’s advisors have refrained from explaining why the medication is not included on the list or if its omission indicates that the president is no longer using it. Possible side effects may encompass depression, sexual dysfunction, and, though less frequently, breast enlargement.
“The current report reflects all medications deemed clinically relevant to disclose at this time,” the White House told the Washington Post. “No additional undisclosed conditions or procedures materially affecting his health status were omitted from this report,” they added in reference to the Friday release.
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Is it concerning?
Robert Klitzman, a prominent psychiatrist at Columbia University, informed the Post that the administration’s hesitance to address the president’s use of finasteride brings forth concerns regarding the transparency of the 79-year-old’s health.
“It raises significant questions of what else is possibly not being revealed,” stated Robert Klitzman, a psychiatrist at Columbia University, in an interview with the Post, highlighting that finasteride has been associated with a heightened risk of depression.
Trump’s health and concerns over lack of transparency
The billionaire president, who is celebrating his 80th birthday this month, has been under continuous examination regarding his health since his return to office — especially concerning the frequent bruises on his hands, swelling in his ankles, and noticeable drowsiness during certain meetings.
“The president has severe daytime somnolence,” CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner stated in an interview last month. “He falls asleep very often. He’s fallen asleep in the Oval Office on multiple occasions with people talking to him, in the cabinet room…And chronic insomnia is a severe illness. It can result in an increase in risk of dementia, a decrease in cognitive effects in older people.”
In 2015, Trump’s former physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, penned a letter asserting that Trump would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency” prior to his initial term in office. However, Bornstein later disclosed in 2018 that Trump had “dictated that entire letter.”
In 2020, the president faced backlash for minimizing the severity of his COVID-19 illness. It was subsequently revealed that he had spent three days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where medical professionals monitored his “dangerously low” blood oxygen levels.
During his second term, Trump has publicly revealed three visits to the same clinic, amidst growing speculation regarding his swollen ankles, bruising on his hands, and increasingly erratic public appearances.