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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTom Coburn pulls a Bill Frist, makes a diagnosis via video
Posted with permission.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/tom-coburn-pulls-bill-frist-makes
Tom Coburn pulls a Bill Frist, makes a diagnosis via video
06/06/14 08:00 AMUpdated 06/06/14 08:08 AM
By Steve Benen
Former Sen. Bill Frists tenure as Senate Majority Leader is perhaps best known for an unfortunate misstep. In 2005, the Tennessee Republican weighed in on the controversy surrounding Terri Schiavo, declaring that he, as a heart surgeon, could make a reliable medical diagnosis about the brain-damaged woman by watching a brief video filmed by the patients family.
Indeed, despite criticism from medical professionals, Frist felt comfortable saying that he, unlike Schiavos actual doctors, could speak with authority about whether she was in a persistent vegetative state.
The result was a political fiasco and a lesson for physicians-turned-politicians everywhere: dont give a definitive medical diagnosis about a patient they havent seen, in the midst of a political debate, based on a brief video of dubious quality.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was in the Senate in 2005, but must have missed Frists story.
When news broke of Bergdahls release in exchange for five Guantanamo prisoners, administration officials cited Bergdahls health as a driving factor in the decision to make the deal and get him home.
Coburn talked to CNNs Dana Bash late yesterday, telling her that hes convinced that Bergdahl had been drugged either with an anti-psychotic or hypnotic drug. The Oklahoma Republican said his diagnosis is obviously true and was easy to make.
Coburn added that its not at all possible that Bergdahl was sick. The released prisoners physical health, the senator told Bash, is fine.
Just to drive the point home, the far-right Oklahoman, an obstetrician gynecologist by trade, went on to argue, Im speaking as a doctor, yeah.
Oh, where to begin.
There is, of course, a political context to this. For Republicans eager to condemn the prisoner exchange that freed the American POW, its become necessary to pushback against the Obama administrations case. In this case, the White House said the move was precipitated by concerns that Bergdahls health was failing.
With this in mind, the right needs to believe that Bergdahls health wasnt failing and heres Coburn speaking as a doctor to give his party a new talking point.
But, as was the case with Frist, Coburn has never been in the same room as the patient hes diagnosing. Rather, the senator saw a video filmed by the Taliban. The OB-GYN may have suspicions about Bergdahls condition in the clip, but drawing definitive medical conclusions this way is a very bad idea.
Whats more, its not at all clear how much it matters. Was Bergdahls health failing? The intelligence community certainly seems to think so. Was Bergdahl drugged by the Taliban? I havent the foggiest idea. Either way, the United States government decided to make every effort to secure the release of an American prisoner of war - just like Republicans demanded before they changed their minds.
This is obviously true and an easy conclusion to reach.