Doctor’s Notes Offer Closer Look at Sen. Fetterman’s Treatment Upon Release From Hospital

Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. John Fetterman was discharged Friday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he was being treated for major depression. Fetterman checked himself in for treatment on Feb. 15.

A week before that, he had been in George Washington University Hospital in Washington, with symptoms of lightheadedness, which was a concern because the Democrat senator had a stroke on the campaign trail the weekend before the May 2022 primary.

On Friday he was back in his hometown, Braddock, a statement from his staff said.

Fetterman’s medical care in the neuropsychiatry unit was led by Dr. David Williamson, neuropsychiatry chief and medical director, who said in the statement that Fetterman’s depression is now in remission.

The Senate is in recess for the next two weeks. During that time, Fetterman will be with his family in Pennsylvania, and return to Washington when the Senate session resumes on April 17, the statement said.

“I am so happy to be home. I’m excited to be the father and husband I want to be, and the senator Pennsylvania deserves. Pennsylvanians have always had my back, and I will always have theirs,” Fetterman said in a statement from his communications team. “I am extremely grateful to the incredible team at Walter Reed. The care they provided changed my life. I will have more to say about this soon, but for now I want everyone to know that depression is treatable, and treatment works. This isn’t about politics—right now there are people who are suffering with depression in red counties and blue counties. If you need help, please get help.”

Much of the media attention surrounding Fetterman’s hospitalization was complimentary to him for getting help and sharing his health publicly.

Doctor’s Notes

His team provided Fetterman’s doctor’s discharge briefing, offing more detail about Fetterman’s treatment.

On admission in February, Fetterman had severe symptoms of depression with low energy and motivation, minimal speech, poor sleep, slowed thinking, slowed movement, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, but no suicidal ideation, the briefing said. Symptoms had progressively worsened over the preceding eight weeks and Fetterman had stopped eating and taking fluids, causing him to develop low blood pressure potentially affecting brain circulation. He was admitted on a voluntary basis.

The neuropsychiatry team worked with cardiology and neurology at Walter Reed to evaluate and treat Fetterman. They reviewed medical records and imaging studies from George Washington hospital, UPMC, and Lancaster General Hospital and performed additional studies at Walter Reed. They saw no new stroke, consistent with the opinion at George Washington Hospital in February 2023.

“His neurological exam was stable compared with past assessments,” the report said.

Cardiac echocardiogram showed improvement from last year and there were no blood clots in the heart.

Blood pressure was low and was likely due to poor hydration and weight loss. The cardiology team carefully changed medications and reduced dosages while Fetterman’s depression was managed with medication therapies.

Over the subsequent weeks, Fetterman’s mood steadily improved. Sleep was restored, he ate well, and hydrated.

Doctors started to see a better mood, brighter affect, and improved motivation, self-attitude, and engagement with others.

His treatment gradually produced remission of his depression. He learned about depression, read a book about it, and discussed it.

“He expressed a firm commitment to treatment over the long term,” the report said.

Fetterman’s auditory processing abilities were evaluated and identified as mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss, both right and left.

He was fitted for hearing aids and worked with speech-language specialists.

“With improvement in his depression, improvement in the patient’s speech abilities was noticeable and we believe that significant continued improvement is likely with continued outpatient rehabilitation. Fetterman has expressed a firm commitment to engaging in this rehabilitation process. His depression, now resolved, may have been a barrier to engagement,” the report said. Doctors said he is ready to return to his family, pursue outpatient treatment, and resume work.