What Do We Know About Kamala Harris’ Medical History?

With President Biden’s health under the magnifying glass these past few months, it may be surprising to learn how little is known about Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ medical history.

To date, no medical records or physician letters on Vice President Harris have been made public.

MedPage Today reached out to the White House to ask whether Harris, 59, has any medical issues or takes any medications; has had a colonoscopy; and whether she meets with any physicians regularly. As of publication, the White House has not responded.

Apart from a familial cancer risk and a bout with COVID-19, media reports and interviews have also provided little insight about Harris’ medical history.

“We need to know about our political leaders — not only their health, but the health of those that will step in behind them in the event of unexpected health issues that will prevent them from [fulfilling] their duties,” said T. Glenn Pait, MD, of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

Pait, who conducted a detailed investigation of former President John F. Kennedy’s back problems, told MedPage Today that these days “the MRI of our political leaders is television. People watch … how they walk to a podium, how they interact with the media, [and] how quickly they respond to questions.”

Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, died at age 70 of colon cancer in 2009. Having a first-degree relative with a history of colorectal cancer increases the vice president’s risk. For people like Harris with a first-degree relative with colorectal cancer, guidelines recommend a colonoscopy at age 40 or 10 years earlier than the age at which the family member was diagnosed.

Discussing breast cancer awareness in 2019, Harris posted on Instagram: “My mother was a pioneering breast cancer researcher, so I grew up learning about the importance of screening and early detection.”

In April 2022, Harris tested positive for COVID-19. She had previously been vaccinated and boosted; Harris tweeted at the time that she had no symptoms.

After consulting with her physician, Harris took nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid), an antiviral indicated for individuals at high risk for severe COVID. Underlying conditions such as diabetes, obesity, or hypertension can place a person at increased risk for COVID hospitalization or death, but the CDC also states that individuals over 50 are at greater risk.

While it’s unclear whether any medical issues might place Harris at increased risk, some experts acknowledged that world leaders tend to receive top-tier care, and the treatment may have been prescribed as a precautionary measure.

Asked whether presidential nominees are required to disclose their medical histories, John Sotos, MD, a retired cardiologist and Air Force flight surgeon in San Jose, California, whose website chronicles former presidents’ medical histories, told MedPage Today that “there’s nothing in law. There is only tradition, and there’s only what the voters want.”

Nominees do typically release something, however, said Sotos. That can range from a one-page letter, to allowing certain reporters a window of time to review their medical records, as the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) did in May 2008 to prove he was healthy during his presidential run — at the time McCain was running to become the oldest elected first-term president.

“We want a leader that will respond swiftly and effectively to any threat or emergencies, and if the leader … is not up for that … I think they have to step forward,” said Pait. He added, “a grain of sand in a man’s flesh, and empires totter and fall,” quoting Émile Zola, the French novelist and journalist who attributed Napoleon’s defeat during the Franco-Prussian War on bladder stones.

Steven Lomazow, MD, author of the book FDR Unmasked: 73 Years of Medical Cover-ups That Rewrote History, pointed out that “everything was wrong with this guy [Roosevelt] in 1945, but he also had the power of the presidency, and … nobody from his inner circle came out and said, ‘He’s impaired.'”

Given the confidential nature of the physician-patient relationship, there wasn’t much a presidential physician could do without the express permission of their patient, Lomazow told MedPage Today. “The bottom line is that it’s really up to the candidate” to decide whether or not to disclose a health concern.

Please enable JavaScript to view the

comments powered by Disqus.