President Barack Obama. AP FILE PHOTO
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama was taken to hospital Saturday with a sore throat which doctors diagnosed as acid reflux, the White House said, stressing it was not an urgent medical matter.
Obama has been complaining of a sore throat for two weeks, prompting his physician to recommend diagnostic tests at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
An ear, nose and throat specialist from Fort Belvoir Medical Center conducted a fiber optic exam of Obama’s throat in the morning.
“The exam revealed soft tissue swelling in the posterior throat and I, in consultation with the specialist, determined that further evaluation with a routine CT scan was prudent,” Captain Ronny Jackson said in a statement, adding that the results of the test were “normal.”
“The president’s symptoms are consistent with soft tissue inflammation related to acid reflux and will be treated accordingly.”
The White House Medical Unit director stressed that the brief scan took place in the afternoon “purely as a matter of convenience for the president’s schedule.”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest added that “the quickly scheduled test is a matter of convenience for the president, not a matter of urgency.”
But the trip to the clinic was scheduled rapidly, coming after the White House had dismissed for the day reporters who cover the president as part of a press pool.
The presidential motorcade left the White House for the hospital before all of the journalists could return for pool duty.
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