When the U.S. government’s most medically complex cases arrive at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, they often carry symptoms that defy easy explanation: persistent headaches, cognitive disruption, balance problems, and neurological irregularities that can linger for months or years. These are the patients now under the care of Dr. Janette Nesheiwat.

The physician and former Fox News medical contributor recently took on a clinical role at the Bethesda, Maryland, institution, where she is treating government employees, intelligence officials, diplomats, and military personnel affected by anomalous health incidents, the official term for what is commonly known as Havana Syndrome.

What Janette Nesheiwat Is Doing at Walter Reed

Janette Nesheiwat’s work at Walter Reed focuses on managing care for patients presenting with complex neurological and vestibular symptoms associated with anomalous health incidents. The patient population spans a wide cross-section of federal service: active-duty military members, veterans, intelligence community employees, and diplomatic personnel, along with their immediate families.

The condition itself remains one of the more contested medical and geopolitical questions in Washington. U.S. officials first began documenting unexplained neurological symptoms among personnel stationed in Havana, Cuba, in 2016. Since then, reported cases have emerged across dozens of countries, with the total number of affected U.S. government employees running into the hundreds. Intelligence agencies and congressional committees are still working to identify the cause. Some officials have pointed to the possible use of directed energy weapons by a hostile foreign power, though no definitive finding has been made public. Dr. Nesheiwat also cares for TBI (traumatic brain injury) patients at Walter Reed’s National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE).

Nesheiwat also works in the emergency room at the Department of Veterans Affairs, extending her clinical reach beyond Walter Reed to veterans needing care.

A Career Built Around High-Stakes Medicine

Janette Nesheiwat’s resume reflects a pattern of showing up in difficult medical environments. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led frontline medical teams in New York City, one of the earliest and hardest-hit regions in the country. Her public health work has also included responses to flu epidemics, the opioid crisis, and the monkeypox outbreak.

She holds dual board certifications in family and urgent care medicine, earned her medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine and completed her Graduate Medical Education at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Family Medicine where she was selected to lead as Chief resident. While there she moonlighted in the Emergency Department in rural communities that were short staffed.

Before her national profile rose, Nesheiwat made institutional history at CityMD, one of America’s largest urgent care networks, becoming the first woman to serve as medical director of a Manhattan location.

Her family background has also shaped her orientation toward military medicine. One of five children, Dr. Nesheiwat was raised by her widowed mother, a nurse who inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. Several relatives have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, with veterans spanning the Korean War, the war in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War. That personal history, she has said, gives the work at Walter Reed a weight far beyond the clinical. 

The Surgeon General Chapter

Dr. Janette Nesheiwat came to widespread national attention when President Trump nominated her to serve as U.S. Surgeon General for her experience in patient care and excellent communication skills. Due to her strong pro-vaccine stance, her nomination was withdrawn. Reports pointed to an ideological difference stemming from her publicly stated support for vaccines.  Nesheiwat said at the time she will continue to serve in a senior policy role and that her commitment to American public health was unchanged. She went on to serve as Chair of the President’s Make America Fentanyl Free Program.

The nomination generated significant media coverage, some of which, according to a source familiar with the matter, distorted her background. Nesheiwat has since initiated legal action against outlets involved.

Casey Means was nominated to fill the Surgeon General position after Nesheiwat’s departure from the process. That nomination was also withdrawn, and Trump has since nominated Nicole Saphier, a former Fox News contributor, for the post.

The Patients Behind the Headlines

Havana Syndrome has generated considerable political and media attention over the past decade, but the patients at its center have often found themselves caught between an ongoing intelligence investigation and a medical system still developing its protocols for their care.

At Walter Reed, the focus is on clinical rather than investigative work. Nesheiwat described the mission as delivering care that helps patients “heal, recover function, and return to the highest level of wellness possible,” a language that reflects the long-term, often uncertain nature of neurological recovery.

For a physician whose career has moved from urgent care and pandemic response to specialized federal medicine, the Walter Reed role represents a convergence of her extensive training and background.