Two-page letter on Palin's health leaves unanswered questions John Byrne

Published: Tuesday November 4, 2008





Print This Email This "Palin recently promised in a nationally televised interview that she would release her medical records. Instead, the campaign issued the two-page letter from her physician on the eve of the election."



That's verbatim from the Associated Press.



Just hours before the election, Dr. Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, of Anchorage, released a two-page letter declaring Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in good health. In the letter, she described Palin's pregnancies, including the birth of her son, Trig, earlier this year at 35 weeks.



"Routine prenatal testing early in the second trimester of Palin's pregnancy determined that the fetus had the chromosomal condition known as Down Syndrome," the article notes. "The Alaska governor and her husband, Todd, decided to go ahead with the pregnancy."



Baldwin-Johnson added that Palin had had a breast biopsy in 1992 for what turned out to be a benign lesion, and that her patient's vital signs, including blood pressure at 96 over 61 and a pulse of 77, were within normal limits. "Palin has no close relvatives with major medical problems."



"She is physically fit with a regular exercise regimen," Baldwin-Johnson continued, adding that the 44-year-old Palin takes no routine prescription medications. "In summary, Gov. Palin is in excellent health and has no known health problems that would interfere with her ability to carry out the duties and obligations of vice president of the United States of America."



Curiously, the bulk of the letter described Palin's most recent pregnancy and Trig's health.



Conservative pundit and blogger Andrew Sullivan continues to question the official story regarding Trig's birth, and has previously pegged it as a strong contending reason as to why the campaign put off releasing information for so long -- and didn't release details of her actual medical records, as the campaign promised.



"We have been given no actual records of the last pregnancy, or any records at all, although we are told by the elusive Dr. Catherine Baldwin-Johnson that labor was at 35 weeks - not as premature as previously believed (if you research the average weight of full term DS babies, you find, by the way, that Trig was not underweight)," Sullivan wrote Tuesday. "There is no time for any reporters to ask any questions, of course, or any time for the questions raised by the pregnancy to be aired in the press. I doubt Baldwin-Johnson will respond to further queries. Obama gave Palin a precedent for this kind of letter as a replacement for records with his equally secretive and brief doctor's note. But at least he did so well ahead of time, and has no serious questions pending about his own health history."



"The timing of the release should also surely be interpreted as a giant finger to the press," Sullivan added. "Releasing this letter one hour before polling day begins and refusing to provide any actual documentation is not an answer. We need documentation to verify the last pregnancy: the amniocentesis results with Sarah Palin's name on them, for example, would be readily available and easy to disseminate, and would help raise awareness of Down Syndrome. So why not give us something? All we have in this literally last minute letter is Baldwin-Johnson's name. We had that already."



Obama similarly released a note from his doctor summarizing his health; Sen. John McCain and Sen. Joe Biden both provided more detailed medical data.



Palin appears outwardly to be in good health. But some -- including Sullivan -- have raised questions about whether Palin's decision not to release any medical data has to do with the birth of her son, Trig, at 43. Sullivan has documented myriad inconsistencies in the governor's account of her son's birth.



After her water broke in her eighth month of pregnancy, while out of town to give a speech, Palin did not go to the hospital and instead called her doctor over the phone.



"I think that the majority of obstetricians, given a 44 year old with 4 previous deliveries and a known Down syndrome pregnancy at less than term with a question of ruptured membranes, would advise her to be seen at a hospital (especially if out-of-town and the question of traveling was on the table) to have these tests performed; given the malpractice risk, very few would be comfortable making the diagnosis over the phone," said one obstetrician Sullivan quotes.



