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Health Problems Pose Governing Challenge (The Politico, 1/25/07):

The average age of members of the U.S. Senate is older than it has ever been, according to Senate Historian Richard Baker. For many senators, advanced age is starting to show, raising questions about their ability to govern.

Until his retirement last month, former majority leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., a noted heart surgeon, was being consulted for informal medical advice by two dozen of his colleagues — more than 20 percent of the Senate, according to a former leadership aide. They went to Frist complaining about a host of illnesses and chronic maladies, most related to aging.

Depends on the Definition of Diagnosis (1115, 1/30/06):

Bill Frist, M.D. (3/17/05):

…that footage, to me, depicts something very different than persistent vegetative state.

Bill Frist, M.D. (3/17/05)

“I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office. “She certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli.”

Bill Frist, M.D. (1/29/06):

“I didn’t make the diagnosis. I raised the question of whether or not she was in a persistent vegetative state.”