Uh-Oh: McCain's Doctors Are Idiots

To date, Old Man McCain has not released his medical records. His campaign has recently bowed to pressure and will allow some interviews with his doctors. Sounds like Kabuki Theatre to me.  What are they gonna do, tell the world that their boss is falling apart?

A Washington Post-ABC News poll last month found that 27% of likely voters said McCain's age makes them "less enthusiastic" about his candidacy.

Aides and doctors for McCain - who often boasts he hiked the Grand Canyon "rim to rim" last year during a three-day trek with his son - insist he is remarkably healthy.
"It only takes one day on the road with John McCain to know that what doctors say about his health is absolutely true," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds. "He's in excellent shape."

"Rim to rim" of the Grand Canyon sounds like a lot, but averages about 10 miles. Walking three miles a day for a whopping three days in a row doesn't sound like much to me, but maybe it's a freakin' Iron Man marathon if you are as old as John McCain.

The article doesn't actually quote any of McCain's doctors, but we know what they'll say. "Strong as an ox, ready to rumble, all systems go."

Of course, not all systems are go:

He cannot raise either arm over his head, and like many his age, he suffers bouts of arthritis.

More recently, McCain has battled melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. The scar on his left cheek is a reminder of the dime-sized melanoma that doctors removed in 2000.

But what should really concerns us is that McCain's doctors don't know what the fuck they are doing. Look at this:

Aides told The News that, like many men his age, his medicines are limited to baby aspirin (to prevent heart attacks), Vytorin for cholesterol (now pegged at a respectable 155) and the occasional Claritin for allergies.

Apparently his doctors don't read newspapers or medical journals. Vytorin doesn't work.

Leading doctors urged a return to older, tried-and-true treatments for high cholesterol after hearing full results Sunday of a failed trial of Vytorin.
Millions of Americans already take the drug or one of its components, Zetia. But doctors were stunned to learn that Vytorin failed to improve heart disease even though it worked as intended to reduce three key risk factors.

....

The results show the drug had "no result -- zilch. In no subgroup, in no segment, was there any added benefit" for reducing plaque, said Dr. John Kastelein, the Dutch scientist who led the study.

But, but -- how could a Congressman like McCain be expected to know about this? Surely nobody in Washington has time to worry about drug studies!

Wrong.

Two Congressional panels launched probes into why it took drugmakers nearly two years after the study's completion to release results....

In addition to the two Congressional committee probes, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo subpoenaed the companies in a similar probe in January.

"While these corporations profited, Americans were left in the dark," Cuomo said in a written statement Sunday.

I guess McCain and his doctors are "in the dark" as well. Considering how old and frail McCain is, I think it is very worrisome that his doctors are out of the loop regarding what drugs work and which ones are useless.

It's their job to keep this old coot alive, remember.

(Photo by Eric Draper/AP)