2004 - The Speechless Candidate (Paperback)

This is a fictional account of a Washington, DC area neurologist specializing in dementing illnesses who takes-on a new patient, the President of the United States. Introduced to the President via his lovely communications manager, Dr. Nash becomes trapped in the political limitations of treating such a patient. The background for the novel is the 2004 Presidential Campaign. Nash falls in love with the communications manager, and tries to keep the President's illness out of the public's awareness, until it becomes impossible. The story deals with aphasia, or the medical term for loss of speech, and how it can be confused with various causes. Also occurring within the story is the physician's struggles with confidentiality in the patient-physician relationship.