Should Rep. Bachmann Release Her Medical Records?Follow

Reports have come out that Rep. Michelle Bachmann, presidential candidate, suffers from severe migraine headaches. Former aides have said she is incapacitated by the attacks when they occur. There are reports of her missing Congressional votes due to them including missing eight votes in July 2010 when she was out for a week. Her own statement was that it took her four days to recover.

Her campaign says the reports are overblown. A statement she requested from the Congressional physician says that she is in "overall good general health". Her brother and son, both doctors (but neither is her doctor) have said she's fine and controls her attacks via medication and understanding the triggers. She has stopped short of releasing full medical records which may spell out times she's been hospitalized/treated or medications she's on for treatment.

Yeah, someone who's prone to Stress Headaches running this mess of a country. Great idea.

Ah, the whiny ***** option. I forgot that Varus might want to vote.

"No, and I don't think it's a big deal regardless."

I just can't envision this being an issue, were she to win.

No, you covered that with the poll. Since it's up, it might as well be comprehensive.

Hey, at least he's not running for President, like Gingrich.

I think this is a pretty big load of bull, and I may be biased as a lifetime migraine sufferer. On the one hand, presidential candidates are expected to give up any privacy they might have, but I believe her when she says she understands her triggers and controls them with medication. When I was younger, I'd have as many as several migraines a week, lasting for days. Now that I've dealt with them for 20+ years, I understand what sets them off, and I get 1-2 a month that are usually related to my menstrual cycle, but they don't knock me on my ***. I've learned to live without expensive, prescription migraine medication, but if I had a constant supply of them my migraine frequency would probably be almost nothing.

I guess I can understand how the frequency, etc, can give us more clues. But, as a migraine sufferer, I trust that she has learned how to deal with them over time, and that if they were that frequent and debilitating I can't imagine her really wanting to take on the responsibility of President.

If she were to say, have 2 less golf-outings a month than the average president of recent has participated in, it would probably be about the same amount of downtime her migraines cause her. Also, not all migraines are purely stress induced - I get mine from not eating, from caffeine withdrawal, etc. Pretty controllable stimuli.

No. Like Locke says, she's physically capable. A week+ off from work for illness isn't a deal.

Of course, maybe if the media keeps stressing her, she'll go for the ultimate aneurysm.

Maybe she's a werewolf.

If she won't release her medical records, then what's on them that might incriminate her? I mean, maybe she's got AIDS or something and she doesn't want people to see it!! She could give AIDS to the whole country! Maybe she's really black and she doesn't want people to know! Maybe she's really a man!

I voted for the last option. That's her business. If I don't have to show my medical records to get a job, why should she?

Maybe he meant it in a "Bachmann RULEZ!!" sort of way.

Are the conservatives so seriously lacking in intellectually competent women that we should have to honestly consider her candidacy? Bachmann is maybe a hair smarter than Palin but at least twice as crazy.

I feel like, usually, questions about health are not entirely legal unless you've been formally offered the job. I could be wrong.

I suppose she could be impeached if she can't perform the duties. Or, actually, I guess if she medically could not perform her official duties, the VP would get the job.

Yeah, regardless, I've not heard of a presidential candidate asked to release medical records before. Has it happened before? (Excepting Obama's birth certificate, of course...)