Paul Golden: Once they hit 80, make every member of Congress, president, justices get neuropsychiatric exams

I believe members of all three branches of the federal government who are 80 years old or more should have to submit to a cognitive neuropsychiatric exams each year to evaluate for impairment. Such exams are performed by doctors who are double-boarded in neurology and psychiatry who spend eight hours interviewing the participant and then submit a written report which requires three days to prepare. Such doctors are small in number because of the specialized nature of their practice. There are at least one in all cities over 200,000 population. The typical cost of such an evaluation is $10,000.

I mention these details as they are not informal interviews by psychiatrists, who can perform a 5-minute, mini-mental status exam which is useless.

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Paul Golden: Once they hit 80, make every member of Congress, president, justices get neuropsychiatric exams."