Rand Paul Is Not Buying Capitol Doctor’s Diagnosis of Mitch McConnell: ‘Clearly Not Accurate’

Many expressed concern when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appeared to freeze for the second time in two months when speaking with reporters last week.

And many were surprised when Capitol Hills’s attending physician, Dr. Brian Monahan, gave McConnell a clean bill of health a few days later.

Monahan said McConnell could resume his regular schedule as of this Friday and that his recent episodes could possibly be due to dehydration.

“Occasional lightheadedness is not uncommon in concussion recovery and can also be expected as a result of dehydration,” Monahan said.

On Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a medical doctor, challenged Monahan’s assessment, calling it “misinformation” and “clearly not accurate.

Paul told The Hill on Wednesday he believes “most Americans” remain skeptical of the physician’s report.

Paul was particularly concerned that Monahan had ruled out the possibility that McConnell could be suffering from a seizure disorder.

“The doctor said that they ruled out seizure disorder from an EEG,” said Paul. “[However], a normal EEG doesn’t rule out seizures.”

Paul added: “First of all, 25 percent of people who’ve had a brain injury end up having seizures after their injury.”

Noteworthy is that McConnell fell at a private dinner event in March — suffered a concussion, was rushed to a hospital and subsequently recovered in a rehabilitation center.

Paul explained: “Now if you get an EEG and it’s normal, does that mean he doesn’t have a seizure disorder? No, that means that you didn’t find it because he didn’t have a seizure while he was having the test.”

“The bottom line is, it is a medical mistake to say that someone doesn’t have a seizure disorder because they have a normal EEG,” Paul said.

Though many GOP representatives were quick to take Monahan’s assessment at face value, Paul challenged the report within 24 hours, bringing up the issue with reporters on Tuesday.

“I’ve practiced medicine for 25 years,” Paul said, “and it doesn’t look like dehydration to me. It looks like a focal neurological event.”

Monahan specifically stated that he found no evidence that McConnell was suffering from a seizure disorder, stroke or Parkinson’s disease.

Paul noted he was concerned that glossing over a potentially serious health issue could erode the public’s trust.

“My point is that I’m just trying to counter the misinformation from the Senate doctor,” Paul explained. “It is basically not believable to come up and say that what’s going on is dehydration. It makes it worse in the sense that by saying something that is obviously untrue, it leads to more distrust of the situation.”

Paul added: “It’s a very public thing. My concern is that it’s bad advice, bad medical advice that’s being put out there and I hope it’s not the end of the medical advice because the medical advice that I’m reading about in the newspaper is not valid and it’s not appropriate.”