RECOVERING

John Fetterman Releases Long-Awaited Update on His Post-Stroke Health

His doctor said Fetterman continues to exhibit some auditory processing issues, but that his “communication is significantly improved.”

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman has released an updated letter from his doctor on his stroke recovery following weeks of questions on whether he’ll offer voters up-to-date assessments of his health.

The letter, penned on Oct. 15 by Fetterman’s primary doctor Clifford Chen, says “he’s recovering well from his stroke and his health has continued to improve.” Fetterman’s physical exam, including his blood pressure and heart rate, were normal. Chen noted that Fetterman continues to exhibit some auditory processing issues, but that his “communication is significantly improved” since his first visit to speech therapy, which he attends regularly, and he “spoke intelligently without cognitive deficits.”

His blood tests were also “good” and his lipid profile is “excellent,” Chen wrote. Fetterman will continue to take heart medications in order to improve his condition and prevent future strokes, the letter said. It does not include full receipts of his medical records.

Fetterman as recently as last week declined to say whether he’d release updated information on his health—pointing to a letter released by his doctor over the summer as sufficient evidence. He’s maintained that his health is improving in-line with a typical stroke recovery.

“I would say that if there was anything that changed or whatever, I absolutely would have updated that,” Fetterman said during a live-streamed editorial board meeting with PennLive last week.

Rachel Tripp, spokesperson for Fetterman’s Republican opponent Mehmet Oz, told The Daily Beast on Wednesday, “That’s good news that John Fetterman’s doctor gave him a clean bill of health... now that he apparently is healthy, he can debate for 90 minutes, start taking live questions from voters and reporters, and do a second debate.”

Fetterman and Oz are gearing up for their first debate next week—which Fetterman will be using closed-captioning for. The Democratic hopeful has repeatedly discussed his use of captioning tools, including in a viral NBC News interview earlier this month, to be sure he’s hearing interview questions correctly.

“Overall, Lt. Governor Fetterman is well and shows strong commitment to maintaining good fitness and health practices. He has no work restrictions and can work full duty in public office,” the letter concludes.

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