Letters: Sen. McCain's medical records
SEN. McCAIN has chosen Gov. Palin, who is clearly unprepared to be the vice president during such a turbulent, chaotic, and pivotal time. So it's vital that voters know the facts about McCain's health and demand that his medical records be fully released.
SEN. McCAIN has chosen Gov. Palin, who is clearly unprepared to be the vice president during such a turbulent, chaotic, and pivotal time. So it's vital that voters know the facts about McCain's health and demand that his medical records be fully released.
We have yet to see a full, public release of McCain's medical records. A "release" in May was restricted to about 20 reporters, and they were allowed only three hours to review 1,173 pages. They were not allowed to make copies, consult with medical experts or use cell phones or have Internet access during their review.
As a physician, I would have great difficulty coming to a satisfactory assessment of a patient's health under those circumstances, especially one who has recently had significant bouts with serious illness, as McCain has.
What little I do know about McCain's medical records mostly concerns his melanoma. Yet questions remain. Was the melanoma cut in 2000 from McCain's temple a stage IIA, as reported by the Mayo Clinic, or a far more advanced IIIB, according to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology?
The report of two pathologists at the Armed Forces Institute asserts that the lesion was "highly suggestive of a metastasis of malignant melanoma and may represent a satellite metastasis."
That means that what appears to be two separate melanomas may, in fact, be one melanoma that has metastasized and spread - a far more serious condition that significantly raises the chance of recurrence or mortality.
The full release of health records applies to both parties. Barack Obama has only recently quit smoking. While his campaign released a one-page summary of Obama's records, voters deserve to know more.
But with Obama's age, exercise habits and the qualifications of his running mate, Sen. Biden, I have many more concerns about McCain's health than Obama's.
Thomas D. Vernon, Philadelphia
