Trump asked doctors at Walter Reed to sign nondisclosure agreements

President Trump's impromptu visit, two hours long, didn't follow protocol for a planned checkup.

Oct 9, 2020

President Donald Trump is going through great lengths to ensure his medical history is not exposed.

During a visit to the Walter Reed Medical Center on November 16, 2019, the president requested that doctors and non-medical staff sign an NDA before they could see him per NBC News. Two doctors did decline to sign the NDA so they were not allowed to treat the president when he recently visited the hospital for COVID-19.

It is unclear whether hospital staff were asked to sign the same type of document when the president recently visited the facility for COVID-19.

President Trump Arrives Back At White House After Stay At Walter Reed Medical Center For Covid — WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 05: U.S. President Donald Trump removes his mask upon return to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 05, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump spent three days hospitalized for coronavirus. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Judd Deere, White House Deputy Press Secretary, had this to say in a statement: “Any physician caring for the President is bound by patient-physician confidentiality guaranteed under HIPAA, and I’m not going to comment on internal procedures beyond that.”

People that provide medical services are bound by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA which forbids them from sharing a patient’s personal health records. So it is unclear why Trump took the extra step and had employees allegedly sign an NDA.

Questions about President Trump’s health have been swirling since he tested positive for COVID-19.

“We’ve done routine standard imaging. I’m just not at liberty to discuss,” the president’s doctor, Dr. Sean Conley, told reporters on Monday. A written report in regards to Trump’s health by Dr. Conley said: “I release the following information with the permission of President Donald J. Trump.”

But Arthur Caplan, the director of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, says Trump’s requirement of an NDA isn’t abnormal.

“Ethically and legally you can ask for an NDA, but you don’t need one,” Caplan said. He added, “It’s more redundant than unethical. The presumption is privacy first.”

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