Bernie Sanders In ‘Very Good’ Health, Says The Attending Physician Of Congress
Bernie Sanders has passed his fitness test with flying colors, according to Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the attending physician of Congress.
Sanders was under pressure to release his health records as we approach the highly-anticipated Iowa caucuses, with Hillary Clinton having already released her medical records back in July.
The Vermont senator’s campaign released a letter Thursday, signed by Dr. Monahan, confirming that Sanders was last examined on November 18 and had normal readings for blood pressure, pulse, and blood count, according to the New York Times.
Bernie Sanders’ clean bill of health will come as a concern to many, especially his Democratic Party rival Hillary Clinton, whose campaign has previously been embroiled in internal gaffes pertaining to the senator’s health and whether he would be fit enough to last the campaign. Clinton’s top ally David Brock, who runs several pro-Hillary Clinton super PACs, was rebuked earlier this month for his planned attacks on Sanders’ health, which he had to later withdraw in face of the widespread criticism he faced from Clinton’s own campaign, according to Politico.
John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, had sent out the following tweet after Brock’s well-documented plans were thrown off the rails.
.@davidbrockdc: Chill out. We're fighting on who would make a better President, not on who has a better Physical Fitness Test.
— John Podesta (@johnpodesta) January 17, 2016
Nonetheless, not only has the Vermont senator managed to narrow Clinton’s lead in the primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire over the last few weeks, political pundits are now predicting that Sanders might just edge Clinton in the former state if the voter turnout is high.
Although the letter mentioned that Sanders has suffered a variety of ailments in the last many years (some of which the senator has already discussed in detail in his 1997 autobiography), including gout, diverticulitis, hernias, and a cyst of the vocal cord in the past, Sanders remains “active in [his] professional work and recreational lifestyle without limitation,” Dr. Monahan’s analysis concluded.
The letter may be seen as a formal confirmation of what Bernie Sanders’ supporters have been saying all along, namely that the senator is in excellent health to run for the presidency. For his detractors, too, the letter is evidence that they should get over his health and move to matters of a more pressing nature.
“There is nothing surprising in these medical records,” said a spokesperson for the Sanders campaign. “The senator is in great health, as he has previously said.”
Of course, much of that concern was raised because of Sanders’ age. If Bernie Sanders does manage to defy the odds and become the next President of the United States, he would be the first president elected to office at the age of 75.
Bernie Sanders says he’ll release statement on health records https://t.co/3jFwzn1kN4 #DemDebate
— STAT (@statnews) January 18, 2016
The letter released by the Sanders campaign also stated that the Vermont senator does not use tobacco and drinks alcohol “infrequently.” Overall, the letter claimed, that despite Bernie Sanders’ past surgeries, he is in a terrific state to run for office.
It is only apt that Bernie Sanders has released his medical records with the Iowa caucuses only four days away now because with so much at stake in the primaries, it is important that the Democratic voters elect their candidates without any lingering doubts in their minds.
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
