Over 2,200 Doctors Agree: John McCain Should Release His Medical Records

Posted by ZP Heller, Brave New Films at 8:56 AM on September 18, 2008.

Since we launched John McCain's Health Records Must Be Released last Sunday, it's been viewed by nearly 300,000 people.  Perhaps even remarkably, 47,000 people -- including over 2,200 medical doctors -- signed the open letter urging McCain to provide a full disclosure of his medical records. 

I'm not sure what's more alarming, the fact that McCain released 1,173 pages of medical records last May that only covered the last eight years of his life, or the fact that he released those records under extraordinarily restricted circumstances; only a handful of journalists were allowed access for three hours, and no copies or phone calls could be made.  Either way, it's clear that McCain has not been forthright with the public about his health, an inauspicious and downright dangerous move considering his history of cancer and the fact that the American people have had to deal with with a dishonest, deceitful administration for the past eight years.  McCain already reflects a continuation of Bush's failed policies, considering he's voted 95 percent of the time with the president.  Now he's leading us to believe he'll carry on Bush's legacy of lies as well.

But now we're not the only ones crying foul on this issue anymore.  Over 2,200 medical experts have highlighted the urgent need for McCain to make his health records public. Just read from a couple of them who agreed to let us publish their comments here.

(Comments after the flip.)

Joseph Mungai writes:

I used to practice medicine nationally certified in the field of psychiatry as a registered nurse. Chemotherapy has been shown to impair memory and the ability to concentrate and think clearly. PTSD can also negatively effect cognitive function and temperament. However, we must be careful here. Remember the Patriot Major General Smedley Darlington Butler was accused of being mentally ill after exposing a fascist plot here in the U.S. by bankers and industrialists. Certainly we can all agree that his experience leading to many medals of bravery effected his thought process and view of the world. Nevertheless, changed by war he chose to speak truth to power to defend and protect our Constitution, Soldiers and Security of this nation -- above all else. Given other factors involving Senator McCain, like age related diseases and side effects of the other medications he takes we must have his entire medical record collection. His treatment team must be interviewed to find out the whole truth. After all, what kind of background checks and testing are required to become a U.S. secret agent?

And Maggie Jochild has written an even longer post entitled, "John McCain, Dead Man Walking?" which is excerpted here:

Last week, when I got the letter from Robert Greenwald talking about John McCain's refusal to release his medical records to fair scrutiny, the fact that there are 1,000 pages of them (I create medical records for a living, 1,000 pages is EXTREME), and the news that he has had malignant melanoma, deep primaries with removal of lymph nodes, my immediate thought was "Then he's dying." If he were to be elected, he'd have an almost 2 out of 3 chance of having a recurrence if he doesn't have one already. This is not the kind of cancer you count on escaping from. This is not Stage II, as it has been reported: Stage II by definition does not have lymph node involvement. By definition, it must be either Stage III or Stage IV.

You have the power to call McCain out for being evasive about his health records.  Continue sending this video to everyone you know and get others to sign the open letter to McCain.  Let's turn McCain's secrecy about his records into a topic for national discussion.   

Tagged as: john mccain, doctors, health records

ZP Heller is the editorial director of Brave New Films. He has written for The American Prospect, AlterNet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post, covering everything from politics to pop culture.