McCain To Release Medical Records Friday

May 22, 2008 · Filed Under Medical News

As Americans kick off the first holiday weekend of the summer Friday, Sen. John McCain will release 400 pages of his medical records to a handpicked group of reporters who can neither photocopy nor keep the documents, illustrating the sensitivity the campaign places on the 71-year-old candidate’s age and health.

The health of the certain Republican nominee, who bears large scars on his face and neck from surgery in 2000 to remove an invasive form of skin cancer, has been a question throughout the early part of the presidential campaign. For more than a year, Mr. McCain has repeatedly promised to release his recent medical records, but has yet to do so.

The McCain campaign has selected a handful of news organizations to review the records in a conference room at the Copper Wind Resort in Phoenix, near the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. Reporters from all five major networks —CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN and Fox—will be allowed to take notes from the records, as will wire reporters from the Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg news agencies. Just two print newspapers will be among the pool: The Washington Post and the Arizona Republic.

McCain campaign officials said Wednesday that the high level of interest in the records meant they had to limit access by reporters.

“We had to do it at the Mayo Clinic and the doctors there probably didn’t want 200 reporters running around,” said senior McCain adviser Charlie Black. “It’s not a perfect situation, but its the best available.” No independent doctors will be allowed to examine the records, although McCain officials said Thursday that most networks are flying in their medical correspondents, some of whom are doctors.

It’s worth noting that the McCain campaign purposely did not invite the NY Times to take part in the media pool because of their continued dishonest smears.

The NY Times even threatened to “take a negative view” of the records release should they not be invited. Thankfully, McCain’s campaign didn’t allow themselves to be extorted.