While delivering a statement on President Trump’s treatment course and his discharge from Walter Reed hospital, Dr. Sean Conley evaded questions about Trump’s lung health, including whether scans showed any pneumonia or inflammation. “We’ve done routine standard imaging. I’m just not at liberty to discuss,” Conley told reporters, citing HIPAA rules and regulations on patient privacy. Despite that, Conley talked at length about other aspects of the president’s condition, including the number of times Trump has received oxygen, saying it wasn’t required and he did not have shortness of breath. “It was more of us trying to anticipate needs and see how he would respond,” Conley stated. HIPAA patient privacy laws generally restrict health-care workers from providing identifying details about a patient without their consent, suggesting that Trump only consented to have specific details about his medical care released to the public.
