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Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. experienced a series of health issues in recent years, including an abnormality that he said was caused by a worm that entered his brain and then died, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
In 2010, Kennedy, now 70, experienced severe memory loss and mental fog, he said in a deposition two years later. According to the Times, he consulted top neurologists familiar with the medical history of his uncle, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, who had died of brain cancer in 2009. A New York doctor, after reviewing a scan of his brain, told him that his health issues could be “caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” Kennedy said in the 2012 deposition, which concerned a divorce from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy. Robert Kennedy said at the time that his earning power had been negatively affected by the cognitive issues, the Times reported.
Around the same time, the Times said, he suffered from mercury poisoning, which can lead to neurological issues such as loss of peripheral vision, muscle weakness and issues with movement, hearing and speech, as well as memory loss. Kennedy told the paper he has recovered from the memory loss and brain fogginess and that the parasite did not require treatment.
In addition, he has grappled for decades with atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, an irregular heartbeat. He told the Times it has been more than a decade since he experienced the condition and said he believes he no longer suffers from it.
Kennedy’s campaign declined to provide his medical records to the Times. In a statement to CNN, Stefanie Spear, a spokesperson for Kennedy’s campaign, said he had “traveled extensively in Africa, South America and Asia” as part of his work as an environmental advocate and said he contracted a parasite in one of those trips.
“The issue was resolved more than 10 years ago and he is in robust physical and mental health. Questioning Mr. Kennedy’s health is a hilarious suggestion, given his competition,” the campaign said, referring to the advanced ages of the 81-year-old President Joe Biden and 77-year-old former President Donald Trump.
Doctors interviewed by The New York Times — who based their speculation upon what Kennedy said he experienced, not first-hand observation of his physical state — suggested his condition, known as neurocysticercosis, could have been caused by a pork tapeworm larva. As Dr. Clinton White, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, explained to the Times, it is unlikely that a tapeworm would have “eaten” part of Kennedy’s brain but instead would have survived on nutrients from the body.
Neurocysticercosis can cause seizures, headaches and dizziness, the Times’ report said, though it noted that memory loss is more often associated with mercury poisoning. Kennedy told the paper that at the time he said he was diagnosed with mercury poisoning, he was consuming high quantities of tuna and perch.
Kennedy said he changed his lifestyle following these health episodes, including getting more sleep, traveling less, reducing his fish intake and undergoing chelation therapy that seeks to expel metals in the body.
On the campaign trail, Kennedy has portrayed himself as vibrant and youthful compared to Biden and Trump, engaging in strenuous activities like skiing and weightlifting.
Kennedy’s views on personal health, including his long-held skepticism of certain vaccines, have been a distinctive feature of his public image. He has disputed suggestions that he is “anti-vaccine,” though he is the founder of the Children’s Health Defense, a group that has been accused of spreading falsehoods about vaccines.
