Former President Bill Clinton is reportedly “on the mend” after undergoing treatment for sepsis.
CNN reports:
Former President Bill Clinton was admitted to the University of California Irvine Medical Center’s intensive care unit for a urinary tract infection that spread to his bloodstream, his doctors told CNN on Thursday.
Since former President Clinton domiciles in New York State, questions immediately arose about why he was hospitalized 5,000 miles away for something as serious as a blood infection. Clinton was in California for a private event surrounding his foundation when he complained of fatigue. After undergoing testing, he was hospitalized.
“He was admitted to the ICU for close monitoring and administered IV antibiotics and fluids. He remains at the hospital for continuous monitoring,” according to a joint statement Thursday evening from Dr. Alpesh Amin, chair of medicine at UC Irvine Medical Center, and Dr. Lisa Bardack, Clinton’s personal primary physician. They said that Clinton was in the ICU for privacy and safety, not because he needs intensive care.
CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta gave a brief update on the former president’s condition. After the beatdown by streaming personality Joe Rogan, Gupta tried to appear to play it straight. We are discussing a former Democrat president as opposed to a populist streaming host, after all – but Gupta still played word games by calling the condition a “blood infection” instead of “sepsis.”
“What they think is going on with the president, the former president now is a blood infection,” Dr. Sanjay Gupta said on-air. “This is an infection that is now being treated with IV antibiotics.”
“Seems to be in good spirits,” Gupta added. “He’ll remain in the hospital for at least another day, and at that point they’re going to reassess, but it is possible… that he could be released from the hospital tomorrow.”
At 75 years old, any condition is considered serious. Clinton is fortunate to have the best of medical care at his disposal.
The former President’s doctors said urologic infections are very common in older people, and they are easily treated, although they can quickly spread to the bloodstream. Clinton will be given intravenous antibiotics until Friday, when he will likely be switched to oral antibiotics. His vital measurements are all stable, the doctors said.
Clinton, 75, had quadruple bypass heart surgery in 2004 and had two stents inserted to open one artery in 2010. But his doctors stressed his hospitalization is not heart or Covid-19 related.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This piece was edited post-publication for clarity.)
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