Opinion: Creating a better system to assess presidential physical and psychological health
One year after Biden’s debate performance spurred concerns about his ability to serve as president, a bioethicist has a proposed system to ensure presidential capacity.
One year ago on Friday, the course of U.S. history changed. In his debate with now-President Trump, then-President Biden’s performance left many voters concerned that he was no longer up for the job.
I’m a clinical ethicist who directs a clinical ethics consultation service; I am also a subject matter expert on decision-making capacity, consent, and surrogate decision-making. So in response to the public’s concerns about Biden’s capacity last year, I provided a clinical ethics opinion about an institution’s moral obligations regarding an impaired professional’s fitness to reliably perform his duties. I recommended three options available then to Biden: 1) He could preserve his medical privacy and autonomy by stepping down as a personal health decision; 2) if he wished to remain in office, he could release a transparent health report clearing him for fitness to serve; or 3) his staff and Cabinet, acting in the public’s interest, could insist on an independent health assessment without his consent.
