Speculating About Candidate Health Is Mudslinging, Not Medicine

Hey everyone. How are you? Just checking in because this doozy of an election cycle is starting to show. We’re all a little punch drunk and some of us aren’t making much sense anymore.  Case in point? Dr. Drew Pinsky. The medical doctor and media personality went on KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning this week and made some unfounded statements about Hillary Clinton’s wellbeing, stating he was “gravely concerned” about the democratic nominee’s health and health care. Here’s the full clip: Pinsky is a board-certified internist. And his legitimate medical credentials may make him seem qualified, to the average viewer, to present such claims. But it couldn’t be less true. Medical professionals should avoid speculating on a person’s health if that person is not a patient. Not only does it have the potential to be inaccurate, it could be considered unethical. “’Diagnosing’ someone at a distance who you haven’t examined is closer to trying to be a psychic than a doctor,” Arthur Caplan, the founding director of New York University’s Division of Medical Ethics, told The Huffington Post. “It’s impossible to have a complete picture of that person’s medical history so there’s a chance they can be mistaken.” Why speculation is dangerous Pinksy told the outlet that he examined Clinton’s public medical records and took issue wit...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news