medical

Wilfredo Engalla, a 51-year-old Filipino immigrant, alleged in a medical malpractice case that Kaiser doctors misdiagnosed him with colds and allergies for years before eventually informing him he had terminal lung cancer.

He died before his complaint could be heard by an arbitrator, which his Kaiser policy required. His case prompted a withering rebuke from the California Supreme Court, which said Kaiser’s system of arbitrating legal disputes was subject to long delays and unfair to its members. The year was 1997.

Nearly three decades after the landmark decision, the HMO giant — which made a series of sweeping reforms after the ruling — is once again facing questions over whether its arbitration system is stacked against the interests of its members.

Plaintiffs attorneys, legislators and patients say Kaiser’s private and confidential process for arbitrating legal disputes over medical care still has key flaws that favor Kaiser over patients bringing malpractice cases. The company insures about 25% of Californians, including some employees of the Los Angeles Times.

“Kaiser has really lost its way,” said Assemblyman Robert Garcia (D-Rancho Cucamonga). Garcia, who is a longtime Kaiser member, recently introduced a bill to require the California attorney general to oversee arbitrations mandated by any health plan.

Kaiser defended its arbitration system, saying in a statement that it was fair for both patients and the nonprofit.

Many companies and other organizations, including some hospitals, HMOs and physician groups, require their customers or patients to take their complaints to private arbitration rather than to court.

But unlike most other companies, which send claims to large arbitration firms, Kaiser created its own system back in 1971.

Under Kaiser’s system, once a neutral arbitrator is selected, either party can opt to disqualify that person without cause. There is no limit on the number of disqualifications.

Although the health plan designed the system to be fair, patients and their lawyers have alleged that in reality Kaiser’s greater knowledge of arbitrators’ past rulings and its ability to veto arbitrators give it an advantage to pick favorable judges.

Critics such as Arlan Cohen, a physician and attorney who has brought more than two dozen cases against the health plan, say the system also provides a financial incentive to arbitrators to rule in Kaiser’s favor in order to be selected for future cases.

While Kaiser has access to all the decisions made by arbitrators in its system, the patient’s family gets a more limited disclosure of an arbitrator’s history of cases, lawyers say, adding that it’s not easy to see which arbitrators have ruled frequently for Kaiser.

Kaiser said it disagreed that the system allowed it to select favored arbitrators.

“The appointment process is not influenced by whether the arbitrator has ruled for or against KP or has a record of ruling against Kaiser Permanente,” its statement said.

“As required by law, both parties receive information about potential arbitrators and can decline to move forward with any they are not comfortable,” the statement said.

One problem is what experts call the “repeat player effect,” in which a large company appearing repeatedly before the same panel of arbitrators allegedly gains an advantage over the individual bringing a single complaint.

David Allen Larson, past chair of the American Bar Assn.’s dispute resolution section, said the repeat player effect happens because the patient will likely be choosing an arbitrator on the health plan’s system just once, while “Kaiser is selecting them every single day.”

“They know the system. They know the rules,” Larson said of Kaiser. “The entire process gives them an advantage.”

Alan Kang, a lawyer, in a recent petition filed in L.A. County Superior Court, contends that the fees the arbitrators earn from hearing cases — as much as $2,000 an hour — give them an incentive to rule in Kaiser’s favor so they are chosen to hear more cases.

“When a judge’s future income is at stake, it is impossible to be impartial,” Kang wrote in the petition.

The petition seeks to void the December decision of an arbitrator who ruled against the family of Evangelina Aquino, a Kaiser employee who died of cancer at age 40.

Kang, the Aquino family and the medical experts they hired for the case say her cancer would have been treatable if Kaiser doctors had found it with a test they said her symptoms called for. Kaiser argued it was a different kind of cancer that was aggressive and untreatable. The arbitrator agreed with Kaiser in the December decision.

After the ruling, Kang began analyzing data from Kaiser’s system.

His review of dozens of cases in the last six years found that judges overseeing the most cases nearly always ruled for Kaiser.

“The message is clear: deliver wins for Kaiser and you will get additional business,” Kang wrote in his court petition.

The Oakland-based health plan declined to answer questions about its arbitration system and Kang’s claims, but said in a statement that its “arbitration process is designed to be fair, impartial, and accessible to all members. While some arbitrators may handle multiple Kaiser Permanente-related cases, they are not employed by Kaiser Permanente, and they are selected by both parties, in accordance with the law.”

“We recognize that arbitration cases often involve difficult and deeply personal experiences for patients and families,” the statement said, “and we take all concerns raised through these processes seriously.”

Kaiser’s unique arbitration system

Arbitration can have advantages over the court system, including allowing Kaiser to save on legal costs, which otherwise would raise the price of premiums it charges to families, employers and governments.

Kaiser offers to pay the arbitrators’ fees, which can save families tens of thousands of dollars.

Arbitration may also lead to faster outcomes, possibly avoiding years of litigation. Unlike civil litigation, arbitration decisions are especially difficult to appeal.

After the criticism by the state Supreme Court in 1997, Kaiser reformed the system by creating the Office of the Independent Administrator. The office is funded by a Kaiser trust and the $150 fee each patient filing a claim must pay, said Marcella Bell, who serves as the independent administrator.

Bell said the office works independently from Kaiser.

The office selected 195 retired judges and lawyers to serve on a panel that patients and Kaiser can choose from when selecting a neutral arbitrator to oversee and decide a malpractice case.

Rules written by the independent administrator, in consultation with the health plan and an advisory board, allow Kaiser and the family to cut an arbitrator they don’t like, at multiple steps in the process.

The administrator’s office randomly selects 12 members from its panel. Both sides can each remove any four of those arbitrators. The two sides then rank the remaining arbitrators in order of preference. The administrator selects the top-ranked arbitrator to hear the case.

The two parties then still have the ability to disqualify that selection without cause.

Members of the United Nurses Assns. of California and Union of Healthcare Professionals strike outside Kaiser Permanente in Oakland on Jan. 28.

(Jessica Christian / San Francisco Chronicle)

Last year, Kaiser’s arbitration system closed 529 arbitration cases.

The arbitrators threw out 14% of the cases, ruling in favor of Kaiser’s motion for summary judgment, and dismissed an additional 5% of cases on technical or procedural grounds.

Only 23 cases, or 4% of the total, went to a hearing. Among those, the arbitrator decided for Kaiser in 17, with the patient winning the remaining six.

Patients and their families withdrew their claim in 20% of the cases. About half of those patients did not have a lawyer and had tried to represent themselves.

The parties settled for an undisclosed sum in 57% of the cases. The settlements are confidential.

Patient safety questions

Those who have studied the use of arbitration by Kaiser and other HMOs for medical malpractice claims say the secrecy of the settlements and the closed hearings could keep safety problems from coming to light.

“The secrecy of arbitration proceedings may prevent publicity that could reveal poor doctors,” the California Research Bureau warned in a report in 2000 that analyzed Kaiser’s system. That compares with public court cases that could deter “bad behavior” in the future, the researchers wrote.

In December 2023, 53-year-old Francisco Delgadillo arrived at the Kaiser ER in Vallejo with severe chest pain. After an initial assessment, he waited eight hours for care, according to state regulators.

He died in the lobby. A state and federal investigation found multiple violations, including that Kaiser failed to have a licensed nurse monitoring the dozens of patients in the ER’s waiting room.

The Delgadillo family filed an arbitration claim. Their lawyer Jeff Mitchell said the case settled for a confidential sum and he could not discuss it.

Mitchell agreed that the secrecy raised patient safety concerns.

“They love the system, otherwise they would not be so hellbent to keep it,” Mitchell said of Kaiser’s repeated efforts to dispel criticism. “They don’t want these cases to get in front of juries.”

A licensed practical nurse attends to a patient at a Kaiser Permanente in Culver City in September.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Calls for reform

Despite the changes Kaiser made after the 1997 court decision, patients and their families have continued to complain.

According to the administrator’s 2025 annual report, the “most common” complaint the office heard last year was about the neutral arbitrator.

“Most complained that the arbitrator was biased, partisan, unjust, and in Kaiser’s favor,” the report said.

Stephen Martinez, a retired aerospace engineer from Bellflower, is leading the effort to pass the state bill introduced by Garcia.

At an April hearing in the state Assembly, Martinez spoke about how his wife had found a lump in her breast and asked for an appointment with her longtime caregiver at Kaiser to examine it. Instead she was sent to a physician assistant, who dismissed it, he said.

“The PA prescribed warm compresses, a sports bra, and limited chocolate,” Martinez testified. “We would later find that Lindalee did have breast cancer that had already spread.”

Martinez and his wife said they spent $175,000 on lawyers and medical experts to bring that arbitration case. A chief breast surgeon at Kaiser and another surgeon who had retired from that job both testified that the Kaiser physician assistant failed to follow the health system’s guidelines.

Kaiser’s expert argued that the physician assistant did an appropriate exam and that his low suspicion of breast cancer was reasonable. The neutral arbitrator concurred and ruled against the couple.

After passing the Assembly, Assembly Bill 1770 is now in the state Senate for consideration. The bill lets the attorney general decide what actions they will take to ensure health plan arbitrations are handled fairly and transparently. If the bill passes, the state would add four deputy attorneys general, a legal analyst and three legal secretaries to do that work, according to a legislative analyst’s report.

Kaiser says it has concerns about the bill, including that it would “create overlapping state oversight and duplicative reporting requirements.”

Kaiser Permanente’s corporate offices in downtown Oakland in January 2025.

(Jane Tyska / East Bay Times via Getty Images)

Questions of a missed diagnosis

When Janene Fowler was 22, her body seemed to turn against her. She grew weak, pain shot through her hands and feet, her heart raced. She soon required a wheelchair.

Fowler’s medical chart detailed what could have caused her disabling problems. A test eight years before had found a deficiency of vitamin B12, according to the chart. Over the years, Kaiser doctors noted problems such as depression, unexplained pain, shortness of breath, a sore tongue and an abnormal gait — all possible symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency.

In February 2022, after her family complained about her not being able to see a neurologist, she got an appointment. The specialist noted her vitamin deficiency, telling the nurse to start her on a supplement at once. But the treatment did not begin because the paperwork was lost, her medical records show.

Two weeks later, Fowler left Kaiser to see a doctor at UCLA. A doctor there quickly started injections of B12.

Her symptoms gradually got better, but her new doctors say the years-long deficiency left permanent damage. She still can’t walk without help.

The arbitrator, a retired judge, sided with Kaiser’s doctors and experts, who questioned whether Fowler’s problems were caused by a deficiency of vitamin B12. While one test showed a deficiency, he noted that a second test failed to confirm it. He wrote that Fowler and her lawyers had failed to prove that Kaiser “breached its duty of care.”

Cohen, Fowler’s lawyer, asserted that the retired judge’s decision was contrary to UCLA medical records, which detail her deficiency and treatment.

Fowler now spends most of her time at home. She can’t drive. She often falls when she tries to get around with a cane. She loves to cook, but said she burns herself when she tries.

“My hands don’t really do what I tell them,” she said.

Kaiser declined to answer questions about her case, citing patients’ privacy rights.

Fowler said she’s angry about how the health plan’s doctors and its arbitration system treated her.

“I thought I was going to die, and no one at Kaiser seemed to care,” she said. “What justice can you have in a system that is run by those you are trying to sue?”

Research shows language barriers on holiday are among the biggest obstacles when falling ill abroad — but a new service aims to help Brits in need.

Just one in three holidaymakers feel confident they could adequately describe a medical problem to a doctor while overseas. A survey of 2,000 adults revealed that language remains one of the most significant obstacles when falling ill on holiday.

A mere 28% are confident they could comprehend medical advice given to them, and 13% have delayed seeking help for a medical issue while abroad because of issues with the language, or a lack of knowledge on how to get help in a different country.

Two thirds of travellers couldn’t request a new prescription if they urgently needed one, and wouldn’t know how to communicate that they were suffering an allergic reaction or had been bitten or stung.

Despite most holidaymakers being perfectly capable of ordering a drink or locating the nearest loo, a mere 5% bother to learn essential medical phrases before jetting off.

The research was commissioned by the Staysure, to launch its free 24/7 Travel Doctor service.

The service will enable travellers to speak to an English-speaking doctor or dentist in many worldwide locations via video call, arrange prescriptions, or make an in-person appointment at a clinic or at their hotel when they need medical assistance abroad.

Spokesperson Simon McCulloch said: “I’m not surprised to see, in true British style, most of us would be able to order a beer in another language when we’re on holiday.

“But while we hope we never need to deal with a health issue while we’re away, the research shows a third of people have had to seek medical advice and come up against language barriers.

“While it’s good to be able to order a drink or ask for the bill in other languages, it’s arguably more important that travellers feel confident they can get the right medical assistance quickly if they’re ill or injured.

“We can’t be prepared for every single eventuality but knowing a few key phrases can help especially if you require fast care, have a medical condition or take medication.

“But the thought of speaking with a pharmacist or doctor abroad can be a worrying and daunting experience especially with language barriers.

“In fact, we’ve already seen 50% of those who use the service opt for a video consultation with an English-speaking doctor taking that stress away.”

Can you tell the difference between ordering a coffee and a cry for medical help? Take the quiz now to find out.

The study found when it comes to communicating abroad, 59% assume they’ll be able to get by in English when travelling to a non-English speaking country. While 37% simply rely on translation tools, and 12% would ask AI to understand.

Others admit they would turn to alternative ways to communicate, including using hand signals or gestures (70%), speaking English slowly (10%) or asking someone else to translate (nine%). With 39% even admitting to putting on a foreign accent to try and communicate better.

But these tactics don’t always pay off, with 39% ending up in an embarrassing or difficult situation due to language mix-ups.

Simon McCulloch, from Staysure, added: “When we travel, we don’t ever imagine we are going to end up needing medical help, but there are many occasions where we do.

“That’s why we launched the free 24/7 service, providing travellers with that extra layer of confidence. Our research also found that 79% of respondents said they would be inclined to use the service”.

JOSH Duggar has been moved to a new federal prison more than 100 miles closer to his wife and family after leaving a medical facility, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal.

The disgraced TLC reality star, 38, is currently serving more than 12 years after being convicted of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material following his arrest in April 2021.

Official records show he has been transferred to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City after a short stay at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson previously said inmates may be transferred for a variety of reasons, including medical concerns, or other measures designed to maintain institutional safety and inmate protection.

Duggar is now about 218 miles from the family’s home in Tontitown, Arkansas — compared to the roughly 350-mile journey to FCI Seagoville in Texas, where he had been incarcerated since 2022.

The new facility serves as a temporary processing hub for federal inmates being moved between prisons, which means Duggar could be transferred again before serving out the remainder of his sentence.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to the bureau and Duggar’s lawyers comment.

He has been incarcerated since his conviction on federal child pornography charges stemming from downloads made at the used car dealership he operated in Springdale, Arkansas.

In December 2021, a federal jury found him guilty of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material after investigators traced illegal downloads to a password-protected computer at his business.

Prosecutors argued Duggar was the only person with the knowledge and access needed to download the files.

In May 2022, he was sentenced to 151 months — more than 12 years — in federal prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release.

He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

Ever since, Duggar has unsuccessfully fought to overturn his conviction, arguing that errors were made during his trial and that evidence should not have been admitted.

Federal appeals courts have rejected the arguments, leaving his conviction and sentence intact.

His wife Anna has remained publicly loyal to her husband throughout his imprisonment despite the scandal that ended the Duggar family’s reality TV empire.

She has regularly visited him in prison and attended court hearings during his legal battle, while continuing to raise the couple’s seven children in Arkansas.

They have been married since September 2008 and have seven children together.

The Bureau of Prisons has not disclosed why Duggar was transferred or where he will ultimately be sent next.

Federal inmates are commonly moved because of security classifications, institutional needs, programming opportunities, medical reasons or other administrative decisions.

For now, Duggar remains in Oklahoma City as officials determine his permanent placement.

His projected release date remains October 2, 2032, according to Bureau of Prisons records.

Meanwhile, his racy messages to his wife Anna while he was in custody in Arkansas were revealed in a report by PEOPLE.

“[I] miss you my lover. i miss being in the shower with you scrubbing, i miss watching you try on clothes, I miss watching you being sexy,” Josh wrote.

He also congratulated his wife for “making the scale numbers lower than expected” and suggested she buy herself “something low cut” to wear in the shocking text.

He continued, “[O]r you can try on clothes and send me a pic of you in your bra and panties 😉 or try on ‘go to the private pool for sun’ swimsuit? btw you should order you a 2-piece swimsuit since summer is coming on soon, get something hot and fun.”

Josh then signed off, telling her he would love her forever and calling her “sexy.”

He wrote a similar sign-off in a message sent to Anna, 38, days later, and added, “p.s. – send pics asap as requested, imlied (sic), inferred or otherwise stated lol. nice one(s) with your twos in it! (OvO).”

Justin Gaethje waited a long time to become an undisputed UFC champion.

Now the 37-year-old MMA star might have to wait another six months or so before fighting again.

Gaethje upset former two-weight champion Ilia Topuria with a technical knockout in a lightweight unification championship bout at the UFC Freedom 250 event Sunday on the White House South Lawn.

Topuria was a bloody and swollen mess by the time his corner stopped the fight between the fourth and fifth rounds. Gaethje executed a soaring back flip off the cage to celebrate his first undisputed belt, but it turns out that the former two-time interim champion also suffered significant injuries during the bout.

Both Gaethje and Topuria were among the five UFC Freedom 250 fighters who received 180-day medical suspensions from the Association of Boxing and Combative Sports Commissions, according to a list issued by the commissions and viewed by The Times.

Ilia Topuria suffered two broken orbital bones during his loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 in Washington.

(Chris Graythen / Getty Images)

Gaethje’s suspension can be shortened if he is cleared with negative MRIs for his right wrist and left knee. Topuria, who suffered two broken orbital bones, can return early if cleared by a an Oral and Maxillofacial Foundation specialist.

Both men also are required to serve mandatory rest days (45 for Gaethje, 60 for Topuria).

Alex Pereira, who lost his interim heavyweight title bout to Ciryl Gane by TKO, was medically suspended for 180 days or until he’s cleared with a negative maxillofacial CT scan. Undercard fighters Aiemann Zahabi and Steve Garcia also received 180-day medical suspensions.

Topuria won the UFC featherweight championship by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski in February 2024. He vacated that title a year later and in June 2025 defeated Charles Oliveira by knockout to claim lightweight belt.

In November, Topuria announced he was temporarily stepping away from fighting. Gaethje earned the interim lightweight title in January by defeating Paddy Pimblett by unanimous decision.

That set up the unification bout between Gaethje and Topuria, which was the final fight of an elaborate event at the White House held on President Trump’s 80th birthday and billed as part of a summer-long celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary.

The “Love Island USA” production team is mourning the loss of executive producer James Barker, who died last week while on set in Fiji.

“Love Island USA” producers ITV America and Peacock confirmed Barker’s death in a media release shared with The Times on Monday. The announcement said that Barker died after “an unexpected medical emergency” but did not provide additional details, including the day of his death and a cause of death. Barker was 40.

“James’ unimaginable loss has been deeply felt across not just the entire Love Island USA production, but throughout all of ITV and Peacock,” the television companies said in a joint statement. “He was a beloved and greatly valued member of our collective family whose kindness, talent and dedication left an indelible mark on all of us and everyone who had the privilege of knowing and working with him. We extend our heartfelt condolences to James’ family, friends and colleagues.”

Barker began his tenure on “Love Island USA” in 2020, first working as a story producer. He has worked as an executive producer on the series for the last three seasons and was also a member of the producing team on “Love Island” companion series “Love Island Games” and “Love Island: Beyond the Villa.”

Barker, according to Monday’s statement, also oversaw the hit series’ pop soundtrack. For an interview with Rolling Stone in 2025, Barker recalled watching the original British “Love Island” series and how pop music supplemented the on-screen romances and heartbreak: “I think that is where my brain immediately said, ‘One, this is amazing, and more shows should be like this.’ And two, ‘How do I work on “Love Island”?’”

Barker also noted in the interview that he drew inspiration for the “Love Island USA” villa sound from his pre-TV career as a nightlife DJ and spoke about the process of hand-selecting music from established pop acts and up-and-coming artists.

“In the past, there was such a stigma about reality shows that a lot of artists didn’t want their music associated with reality shows. And that’s starting to turn around now,” Barker told the outlet. “[Artists are] more and more seeing, well, one, the financial aspect of having your music synced in these kind of shows, and also just the wide reach of viewers.”

Before “Love Island USA,” Barker was a producer on reality series “Pawn Stars,” “Counting Cars” and “Forged in Fire.” He later served as a story producer on “Queer Eye,” “Cosmic Love” and “Are You My First?” Outside of his TV work, Barker often performed as DJ Chaotic at gay bar C’mon Everybody in Brooklyn.

“Love Island USA,” which began its eighth season earlier this month, will pay tribute to Barker in Tuesday’s episode.

He is survived by his mother Malinda.

WASHINGTON — President Trump had another medical exam Tuesday, putting his health under renewed public scrutiny as he has worked to dismiss concerns over his age and stamina.

The 79-year-old president spent more than three hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what the White House described as preventive medical and dental checkups. It was Trump’s fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office for a second term, and it comes as he tries to project strength ahead of midterm elections that will test his sway with voters.

In a social media post after the visit, Trump said he just finished his “6 month physical” and “Everything checked out PERFECTLY.”

For decades, administrations have released selected results from presidential physicals, offering the public a glimpse at the commander in chief’s health. But the results are filtered through the White House and must be approved by the president, raising questions about what the public does and doesn’t get to see.

Trump turns 80 next month and was the oldest person elected president. His immediate predecessor, President Biden, was 82 when he left office, dropping out of the 2024 race because of widespread concerns he was too old for the job.

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in April found that less than half of U.S. adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively as president.

“I think concern for the president’s physical health is probably at an all-time high, and I think advanced physical age is the No. 1 concern,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a White House physician for more than a decade under Presidents Obama, George W. Bush and Clinton.

For a president of Trump’s age, a complete physical would be expected to include advanced heart testing, screening for common cancers and a cognitive assessment, along with basics like height, weight and blood pressure, Kuhlman said.

The White House has not disclosed what the visit entailed but expressed confidence in what it will show.

“President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.

No law requiring presidents to disclose medical records

In the weeks leading up to his visit, Trump has been saying he feels as good as he did five decades ago — even as he jokes about his fondness for fast food and his minimal exercise regimen. Yet he’s also sensitive to perceptions about his age, noting that he takes extra caution descending the steps from Air Force One to avoid headlines about a stumble.

There is no law requiring presidents to publicize their health records, and the degree of transparency has varied by administration. Trump’s past reports have been criticized for offering scant detail and providing statistics that some medical experts eyed with skepticism.

At public appearances, Trump often is seen wearing makeup to conceal bruising on his hands, which the White House attributes to handshaking and regular aspirin use. He sometimes has appeared drowsy during meetings and closed his eyes for long stretches, though he denies having fallen asleep.

Trump often boasts of having “aced” cognitive tests while frequently deriding Biden, who faced questions about his mental acuity. Biden and his aides pushed back aggressively against doubts raised about his fitness for office.

Some of Trump’s previous physicals have included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, used to screen for dementia and cognitive impairment. His physicians reported a score of 30 out of 30 for him at 2018 and 2025 checkups.

Yet critics have pointed to Trump’s meandering speeches and sometimes bellicose rhetoric as evidence of cognitive decline.

Last month, a statement from more than 30 neurologists, psychiatrists and other medical experts — who acknowledged they’ve never examined him — said Trump was mentally unfit to serve and warned of an “increasingly dangerous decline” in his behavior based on what they called “objectively observable signs of serious medical concern.″

“Any so-called medical professionals engaging in armchair diagnosis or false speculation for political purposes are clearly breaking the Hippocratic Oath they’ve sworn to,” Ingle said.

Just like any other patient, presidents get to choose what’s disclosed about their health, said Sara Rosenthal, a bioethicist at the University of Kentucky who studies presidential health. Questions about transparency have become more acute as America elects aging presidents like Trump and Biden, she said.

“We can expect very little disclosure about the true health status of any president unless they’re in perfect health,” said Rosenthal, who has suggested an independent medical organization to review and report on the health of the president and those in the line of succession.

‘Nothing should be hidden’

Trump’s first medical report in his second term was released in April 2025. In July, he was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition in older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins. Photographs have shown the president with swollen feet, ankles and calves, described by the White House as a symptom of chronic venous insufficiency leading to “mild swelling” in his lower legs.

Following his last publicly disclosed exam, described as a routine follow-up in October, Trump’s physician issued a one-page summary saying the president was in “exceptional health” without divulging many specific results.

The frequency of Trump’s medical checkups is not uncommon for someone his age, according to S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois-Chicago, who has studied the health of past presidents. It’s part of a strategy to catch problems while they’re still treatable, Olshansky said.

Olshansky says the public deserves to see more than White House medical summaries that “may be subject to editorial discretion.” Full, unredacted medical records should be made public, he said. “Nothing should be hidden.”

Binkley writes for the Associated Press.

The award winning series will air another intense episode tonight that is not to be missed

A fly on the wall medical series that is not for the faint of heart returns with another brutal episode.

Titled 999: Critical Condition, the medical series has returned for its sixth run, this time filmed in the Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Airing on Channel 5, the show follows patients and staff at a major trauma hospital as cameras are given unprecedent access to film what most people do not see.

Viewers witness an intense and unfiltered look at what doctors and nurses do to save lives. Having returned to screens last week, tonight (May 19), Channel 5 will air yet another brutal instalment at 9pm.

Tonight’s episode (Tuesday, May 19) will take viewers into another high stakes environment as one farmer is airlifted to hospital after crashing head first into a tree. Elsewhere, one woman is rushed to hospital with life threatening stab wounds as medical teams fight to save lives.

A Channel 5 synopsis reads: “A farmer faces potentially life-changing injuries after an accident shatters his skull.”

999: Critical Condition was previously filmed in Stoke for the first five instalments as it has become a firm favourite for those who enjoy medical TV programmes, especially 24 Hours in Police Custody.

The Channel 5 show does not shy away from the realities faced by staff in the hospital and the life saving work they do for patients.

Spanning across one hour, new episodes will be released weekly, with instalments then being made available to stream online.

Previously, one viewer praised: “Watching 999: Critical Condition. Very fascinating.” Another said: “#999CriticalCondition about to start on C5, this is a brilliant TV show.”

A third added: “Watching last night’s #999CriticalCondition, not for the squeemish (sic) but the operation to rebuild the guys head & face after his quad bike crash is fascinating, proper ‘face off’ shit to reveal his damaged skull. The 3d printed skull showing the extent of his fractures was amazing.”