Doctor Fears McConnell’s Senate Return Could Prove Fatal

Evan Vucci/Reuters A top doctor has warned that Mitch McConnell appeared as though he wasn’t well enough to return to the Senate and expressed deep concerns about elder abuse.

The 84-year-old senator was seen in public for the first time on Monday evening, after being hospitalized on June 14.

It had been 92 days since anyone had seen the senator, who appeared frail, remained in a wheelchair, and spoke softly during his appearance on Capitol Hill, surrounded by aides.

They maneuvered him into the Senate chamber so he could avoid giving his brief statement on video.

He did not stay for long, being wheeled out shortly after voting.

“If he had another fall, it could kill him.

It could absolutely kill him,” said Dr.

Anahita Dua, a vascular surgeon.

“Right now, his biggest issues are his balance and his strength.

He undoubtedly is on some medications.

He needs to regain his stamina, his mobility, and be able to do his ongoing rehabilitation.” “Unless he’s something different from the patients that I see day to day, he is in no position to be going onto the Senate floor, listening to hours of testimony, reading bills, and making executive decisions when he’s probably in pain, probably unable to do the basic things like something as simple as he needs to go to the bathroom,” she observed.

Dua noted he looked “exactly like somebody who underwent a fall and had pneumonia would look” and said the word frailty immediately comes to mind.

While Dua has not treated the senator, her biggest concern after watching him wheeled into the U.S.

Capitol as a doctor was that he could take another spill.