Medical records and partisan politics

THE OCT. 3 letters ("Push to review McCain's medical records") by Doctors Eric Chivian and Roger Albin and by Patricia Marshall, which raise alarm over Senator John McCain's possible dementia and history of war injuries and melanoma, demonstrate the concern candidates have about revealing the full details of their medical history: partisanship. The writers don't call for a review of Senator Joseph Biden's history of surgery for a brain aneurysm, yet they criticize McCain. JFK hid his history of adrenal insufficiency and Paul Tsongas concealed critical details of his lymphoma for the same reason: They knew their opponents would seek to gain political capital from these health issues.

The public must balance full disclosure against the right to privacy. A reasonable solution would be a bipartisan panel composed of appropriate medical specialists and informed laypeople to review the medical records of all presidential candidates prior to any primaries. Such a panel could then issue a consensus statement at the outset of the campaign whether any candidate had health issues that would jeopardize his or her ability to competently serve out their term.

Dr. KEVIN R. LOUGHLIN
Professor of surgery
Harvard Medical School
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston