by Frank James
Why aren't the medical records of the presidential and vice presidential candidates an open book?
That's the critical question raised in the last two days by presidential historian Robert Dallek in an opinion piece in the Washington Post and New York Times medical reporter, Dr. Lawrence K. Altman.
Dallek wrote an excellent biography of President John F. Kennedy a few years ago, "An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963" in which he revealed to the public for the first time the full extent of the stunning array of medical conditions JFK suffered, from severe back pain to Addison's disease to an inflamed prostate, and the many powerful medications he used to try and control them.
The enormity of Kennedy's health problems and the public's contemporaneous ignorance of them led Dallek to conclude that the right of voters to learn of medical conditions that could undo a presidency trumps a presidential candidate's right to medical privacy.
If FDR and JFK had allowed the public to know about their own health problems in 1944 and 1960, respectively, they might well have lost. Then again, Roosevelt's hold over the electorate remained considerable, so he might have prevailed. And if JFK had leveled with the public about the pain he bore, he might have been seen as heroic for achieving so much despite his suffering.
But such calculations are beside the point, then and now. Politicians' political problems are their own. Their health problems belong to all of us, and if candidates don't like that, they need not run for president. It was and is the public's right to have the fullest possible information about a potential president's physical condition. If you want to be the most powerful person in the world, you will also have to be one of the least private. Voters deserve to know the full picture -- no ifs, ands or buts.
Altman's piece in the NYT amplifies the problem currently facing voters. Sen. John McCain didn't so much as release his medical records as briefly unveil them for reporters for a few hours last spring although not all reporters were welcome. Altman, for instance, wasn't invited to review the records and no copies could be made of the records.
Sen. Barack Obama's campaign issued an undated letter from a doctor attesting to his medical fitness to occupy the presidency but that's nothing like giving the public access to his medical records.
If elected, Senator John McCain of Arizona, 72, the Republican nominee, would be the oldest man to be sworn in to a first term as president and the first cancer survivor to win the office. The scars on his puffy left cheek are cosmetic reminders of the extensive surgery he underwent in 2000 to remove a malignant melanoma.
Last May, his campaign and his doctors released nearly 1,200 pages of medical information, far more than the three other nominees. But the documents were released in a restricted way that leaves questions, even confusion, about his cancer.
A critical question concerns inconsistencies in medical opinions about the severity of his melanoma; if the classification of his melanoma is more severe, it would increase the statistical likelihood of death from a recurrence of the cancer.
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, 65, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, had emergency surgery in 1988 for an aneurysm in an artery in his brain and elective surgery for a second one. His campaign released 49 pages of medical records to The New York Times late last week showing that he was healthy, but the documents did not indicate whether he had had a test in recent years to detect any new aneurysm.
The two other nominees are younger and apparently in good health, but less is known about their medical history. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, 47, the Democratic presidential nominee, released a one-page, undated letter from his personal physician in May stating that he was in "excellent" health. Late last week, his campaign released the results of standard laboratory tests and electrocardiograms from his checkups in June 2001, November 2004 and January 2007. The findings were normal.
Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, 44, Mr. McCain's running mate, has released no medical information.
There may be no serious problems with the health of any of the nominees. But absent fuller disclosure, there is no way for the electorate to know.
Jeremy Manier, who covers health care and medical issues for the Chicago Tribune, also had a story over the weekend that raises important issues of privacy and bioethics:
Despite the instinct to find out as much as possible about a candidate, many bioethicists and historians say more medical information may not always be a good thing. Even aspirants to the highest offices have some expectation of medical privacy.
"So few people want to be engaged in public life, and if there's no sense of privacy, you're going to drive people away from public office," said presidential historian Douglas Brinkley of Rice University.
Some experts fear that politicians might refuse important treatment or tests out of concern that the results would become public later. For example, people with political ambitions might avoid counseling or medication for depression, or delay treatment for substance abuse.
"You don't want to discourage any human being, candidates included, from seeking medical help they may need just to avoid leaving a record," said Dr. Steven Miles, a professor of medicine and bioethics at the University of Minnesota.
Medical privacy is obviously important in principal. But because so much hinges on a president's health, Americans should be given as much information as possible about the people who would occupy the Oval Office.
That clearly is not the case with all the presidential and vice presidential candidates this year. Americans are basically being told "trust us" by both campaigns. Why should we? Better to follow Ronald Reagan's old advice: Trust but verify."
Comments
And what if we hadn't had FDR or Kennedy?
Posted by: SamG | October 20, 2008 9:42 AM
Let me get this right!
Senator McCain allows the media access to 1200 pages of medical records for a limited amount of time but that is insufficient.
Senator Obama releases a one page document from a doctor who saw him a year previously. This is from a person who still smokes, whose mother died from cancer prematurely and whose father died at an even earlier age.
Senator Biden, who suffered from two aneurysm attacks, releases a limited amount of material regarding the status of his health.
But the individual the media is critical of is Senator McCain.
It appears the media is being hypocritical again!
Posted by: Pat H | October 20, 2008 10:00 AM
Remember William Rehnquist?
http://www.slate.com/id/2125906/
Transparency needed for public officials' medical records, yes!
Posted by: Bill | October 20, 2008 10:19 AM
Pat, does McCain allowing Dr. Sanjay Gupta access to over 1200 pages of medical records for a three-hour period, with no recording devices allowed, really constitute full disclosure?
But yes, I think all the candidates should be required to disclose their medical records just as they must disclose their financial records.
And does it surprise anyone that Gov Palin released nothing?!? She won't even answer reporters' questions in press conferences, god forbid she disclose any additional information.
Posted by: Bruce L. | October 20, 2008 10:35 AM
McCain is 72, Obama is 44. the relevance of the health information is directly proportional to age. There's nothing hypocritical about that. It's that factor that makes the choice of VP signifigant. The words "President Palin" make me quiver in fear. Whereas a hypothetical untimely death of Joe Biden is irrelevant. If he dies, President Obama won't be demoted to fill the vacancy.
Posted by: jose fritz | October 20, 2008 10:36 AM
I agree with post 10:19> I figure out that the FAR LEFT was going to political pull a number about AGE AND PHYSICAL ABILITIES when CNN started introducing us to GUPTA LONG before elections started. They got all the dems that watch them to warm up to him built trust and then gave him HUGE SEGMENTS OF MEDICAL TIME ON THE NEWS AND OUTSIDE OF THE NEWSHOUR, then came the elections and they have brought him out on some of the most ridiculous story lines all having to do with AGE, ABILITIES and one on the president having a complete set up for medical help on Air Force One.
It's such BS....so funny. Lets see, let me weigh it out>AN OLDER MAN FOR PRESIDENT vs SOCIALISM BY A YOUNGER MORE ONE ha ha. GEE this will be hard.
Posted by: Your Cloward/Previn/Saul butts won't get in there this year | October 20, 2008 10:47 AM
Well, Jose, I also like to assume that younger folks are healthier, but then I think of the late, great Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, who passed recently and suddenly at the age of 58. McCain has longevity in his family, Obama does not. His mother died at my age, 53. Obama has a history of smoking. Me too, cough-cough, can't breathe well, addicted to cigarettes--quite the distraction. And he has a history of drug use. How come we haven't had him take a pee test? A one-page letter versus 1200 pages? Please. Oh, and I've been a Dem for 35 years, just so you know. The media ARE in the tank for Obama, and many of us don't like it at all. It bodes ill for the country.
Posted by: Julianne Barbato | October 20, 2008 10:49 AM
Honestly, I think that ALL Supreme Court justices, Federal bench judges, Federal Executive Branch members in critical decision making positions, and ALL law enforcement/public safety personnel who have direct contact with the public where they are called upon to make life/death decisions should have to undergo the most rigorous of physical and mental health examinations and the findings available under Freedom of Information Act.
If these people need to take drugs and have conditions that might impair or skewer their judgment we have the right to know.
Posted by: Pat | October 20, 2008 11:17 AM
The reason that Senator McCain did not allow the media to copy any documents is easy.
MoveOn.Org would cherrypick selected documents and produce a negative ad and play it time and time again on MSNBC and Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews would praise same as being factual!
Posted by: Pat H | October 20, 2008 11:38 AM