Washington, May 2 (IANS): Donald Trump's former doctor has said that he felt "raped, frightened and sad" after a top White House aide conducted a "raid" on his New York City offices and took the US President's health records last year, according to a new report.
Harold Bornstein told NBC News on Tuesday that the "raid" was conducted by Trump's longtime personal bodyguard Keith Schiller and another "large man" on February 3, 2017. They were later joined by the Trump Organization's chief legal officer, Alan Garten.
At the time, Schiller was serving as director of Oval Office operations at the White House. He left the post on September 2017.
Bornstein, 70, said the original and only copy of Trump's charts, including lab reports under Trump's name as well as under the pseudonyms his office used for Trump, were taken.
"They must have been here for 25 or 30 minutes. It created a lot of chaos," said Bornstein.
Bornstein said he was not given a form authorising the release of the medical records and signed by the President known as a HIPAA release - which is a violation of patient privacy law.
A person familiar with the matter told NBC News that there was a letter to Bornstein from then-White House doctor Ronny Jackson, but did not know if there was a release form attached.
Asked about the incident, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told NBC News on Tuesday that taking possession of medical records was "standard operating procedure for a new President" and that it was not accurate to characterize what happened as a "raid".
"Those records were being transferred over to the White House Medical Unit, as requested," said Sanders.
Bornstein told NBC News that Trump cut ties with him after he told The New York Times that the President takes Propecia, a drug for enlarged prostates that is often prescribed to stimulate hair growth in men.
Bornstein said that he prescribed Trump drugs for rosacea and high cholesterol as well.
Bornstein had been Trump's personal doctor for more than 35 years.
During Trump's presidential campaign, Bornstein wrote a letter declaring "unequivocally" that Trump would be the healthiest president in history.
He called Trump's health "astonishingly excellent". The Trump campaign released the letter in December 2015.