10 Hillary Health Issues That Have Raised Questions



Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) meets with
service workers at Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel and Casino on February 18, 2016 in
Las Vegas, Nevada. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)


By Nick Sanchez | Thursday, 18 Feb 2016 10:57 AM

Hillary Clinton appeared to be wearing her corrective eyeglasses while campaigning Thursday in Las Vegas, the same ones she used after suffering a fall and concussion a few years ago.

"Hillary Health Drama: Prism Glasses Back on Day After Coughing Seizure," the Drudge Report tweeted Thursday morning, accompanied by a photo from The Associated Press.

The photo, which showed the 68-year-old Clinton meeting with employees at the Caesars Palace casino, reignited questions about her health as it pertains to her public duties.

Gathered below are 10 times Hillary Clinton's health has been the subject of public discussion.

1. Coughing fits — In February 2016, presidential candidate Clinton suffered her third public coughing fit during a speech in Harlem. "Clinton had to dig out a lozenge at last year's Benghazi hearings," noted the Daily Mail, and "also suffered a coughing fit in Iowa back in January, something she attributed to speaking a lot on her campaign tour." The fits prompted many to speculate as to what could be causing them. Ear, nose, and throat specialist Dr. Jonathan Aviv told "Inside Edition," "It's not just cough. There's some hoarseness, there's some throat clearing, in fact there's frequent throat clearing. When you have these trio of symptoms, you have to think of what I call throat burn reflux, which is acid reflux affecting the throat."

2. Health attack on Sanders backfires — "Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders’ campaign is fundraising off a report that an ally of rival Hillary Clinton plans to demand Sanders release his medical records," The Hill reported in January. John Podesta, chairman of Clinton’s campaign, tried to downplay the incident in an effort to draw attention away from Clinton's health. "We're fighting on who would make a better president, not on who has a better Physical Fitness Test," he tweeted.

3. Fall fractures elbow — While serving as President Barack Obama's secretary of state in mid-2009, Hillary Clinton fell and fractured her right elbow while walking to her car in the basement of the State Department, The New York Times reported. Clinton, 61 at the time, underwent surgery to repair the elbow, and missed at least one meeting with Obama as a result. "Having broken my right arm as secretary of defense, and had the left arm operated on, I think I can truthfully say, I feel her pain," said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates at the time. Secretary Clinton fell again in 2011 while boarding a plane to Oman, but did not sustain injury.

4. Faint causes concussion — In late 2012, Secretary Clinton "sustained a concussion after fainting," The Associated Press reported. The incident came just days before her scheduled testimony about the Sept. 11 attack against a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Other officials from the department attended in her stead. The State Department said Clinton was dehydrated because of a stomach virus, which had recently caused her to back out of a trip to North Africa and the Persian Gulf.

5. Blood clot — Secretary Clinton was hospitalized in December 2012 after doctors discovered a blood clot during a follow-up exam related to her concussion. "Mrs. Clinton’s blood clot formed in a large vein along the side of her head, behind her right ear, between the brain and the skull," The New York Times reported, noting that Clinton also had a blood clot in her leg in 1998. She began taking blood thinners around the time of her hospital discharge. The concussion and subsequently discovered blood clot forced Clinton to ultimately take a month-long absence from her role as secretary of state.

6. Prism glasses for double vision — "As she testified about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, the secretary of state appeared to have tiny vertical lines etched onto the left lens of her new brown specs," the New York Daily News wrote in January 2013. "Clinton's spokesman confirmed Thursday night she is wearing the special glasses as a result of the fall and concussion she suffered last month, but he did not elaborate. Experts told the Daily News that Clinton likely has a Fresnel prism placed on her glasses. The adhesive panel is used to treat double vision." Fresnel prisms can be ground into a lens for longer term use, and the prism is not visible when built into the lens itself.

7. Prescription blood thinner — In August 2015, The Associated Press reported that Clinton was still taking Coumadin, a blood thinner used to prevent blood clots. "Her Coumadin dose is monitored regularly and she has experienced no side-effects from her medications," wrote Dr. Lisa Bardack, an internist who practices near Clinton's suburban New York home. Previously, in a 2014 interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, Clinton said she was "probably" on blood thinners for life.

8. Thyroid — Along with her blood thinner, Clinton takes Armour Thyroid, a thyroid hormone replacement, antihistamines, and vitamin B12, the AP reported.

9. Brain damage comment — In May 2014, The Washington Post reported that Republican strategist Karl Rove "distanced himself from a provocative report in Monday's New York Post, saying he does not believe — as the newspaper asserted he had said — that Clinton suffered 'brain damage' when she fell and sustained a head injury in December 2012." Rove had been commenting on Clinton's prism glasses.

10. Bill says recovery took six monthsFox News reported in May of 2014 that "Bill Clinton said earlier this week there's 'nothing to' the [Hillary] health questions — though at the same time, he revealed her recovery took about six months, which is much longer than the State Department had indicated."