WASHINGTON President Reagan, asked if Michael S. Dukakis shouldrelease his medical records amid rumors that he has receivedpsychiatric care for depression, tried to crack a joke Wednesday butquickly backed off when his effort at whimsy appeared more insultingthan funny.
The Massachusetts governor and his doctor later said the rumorswere unfounded.
By joking that he didn't want to "pick on an invalid," thepresident spotlighted recent rumors that the Democratic presidentialnominee had received psychiatric counseling after his brother waskilled by a hit-and-run driver in 1973 and again after he wasdefeated for renomination as governor in 1978.
Soon after needling Dukakis, Reagan expressed regret at havingcalled Dukakis an invalid, but he also challenged Dukakis to make afuller disclosure of his health history, saying the electorate has aright to know the information about a candidate.
Dukakis responded by authorizing his longtime personalphysician, Dr. Gerald R. Plotkin, to provide more detailed answers toquestions about his medical background.
At a press conference, Dukakis still declined to releasedetailed medical records but said he never had received professionalcounseling, treatment or medication.
Plotkin later issued a statement in Boston saying Dukakis "hashad no psychological symptoms, complaints or treatments" and has beenin "excellent health."
Neither Vice President George Bush nor Dukakis has released adetailed medical report, although Bush did issue what aides said wasa comprehensive report in 1980 and has made public the results ofregular physicals since serving as vice president.
Mark Goodin, a Bush spokesman, said the vice president soonwould update the public on his medical history by releasing"substantial medical information" to the press.
Last fall, Dukakis released a letter from Plotkin, his personalphysician since 1971, saying Dukakis has been in generally excellenthealth throughout the period since '71. In the letter, Plotkin alsosaid there was nothing in his medical history that should interferewith his ability to serve as president.
Mark Gearan, a Dukakis press aide, also said Dukakis will have afull medical checkup this fall and will release the results of thatexamination.
Reagan plunged into the health controversy at the close of anappearance in the White House press room, when he was asked by areporter affiliated with Lyndon LaRouche whether Dukakis ought toreveal his records and clear up whether he has had psychiatric care.
LaRouche supporters had distributed literature at the recentDemocratic National Convention suggesting Dukakis was mentally unfitto serve as president.
"Look, I'm not going to pick on an invalid," Reagan told thequestioner.
Asked about Reagan's remark, Dukakis said there was no need foran apology, but Democratic vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsensaid it was "outrageous and laughable at the same time."
Less than an hour after his "invalid" remark, as he prepared todeliver remarks on another matter, Reagan said he had attempted tomake a joke, explaining, "I was kidding, but I don't think I shouldhave said what I said.
"For some of those who were present in that (press) room, Ithink I should tell them that I do believe the medical history of a president is somethingthe people have a right to know, and I speak from personalknowledge."
Reagan's own treatment for a gunshot wound, intestinal and skincancer and a swollen prostate have been extensively scrutinized inthe news media.
Asked whether his quip had been based on any personal knowledgeabout Dukakis' health, Reagan said, "Nope. I was just trying to befunny, and it didn't work."
Last week, the Boston Globe said it had investigated themonths-old rumors about Dukakis' mental health closely and was unable to substantiate them.
Dukakis' wife, Kitty, has described the '78 gubernatorial defeatas a profound shock, and compared it to "a public death," and said itplunged her husband into a long period of introspection. She toldbiographers that "at one point, I was really worried about him."
Rumors about Dukakis' health background intensified when Dukakisdeclined to fill out a Detroit News questionnaire asking if he hadbeen treated for mental illness or a social disease. Bush said "no"to both questions.
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