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 Support The DrudgeReport; Visit Our Advertisers  PAPER BOMBSHELL: BLAIR KNEW OF HEART TROUBLE FOR YEAR Sat Oct 02 2004 20:11:04 ET DOWNING Street tonight is embroiled in sensational claims that Tony Blair risked his life by trying to hush up the true scale of his heart problems. An eminent cardiologist has told The Mail on Sunday that No 10 knew for almost a year that the Prime Minister had a potentially life-threatening atrial flutter but did not act quickly to correct it. Dr David Ward, a highly respected consultant at St George s Hospital in Tooting, South London, said that Mr Blair should have had an immediate procedure to correct his condition. Instead, for criminally irresponsible political reasons, Mr Blair s office refused to acknowledge the scale of the health problems, he said. Dr Ward also claims Mr Blair was pressurised not to disclose his illness or seek the best treatment for fear of causing a national scare. His sensational allegations brought into question the handling of one of the most sensitive issues of the Blair premiership. Claims that the Prime Minister was suffering an atrial flutter that needed immediate attention were first put to Downing Street in February and were met with a denial. But last Thursday, Westminster was rocked when Blair admitted his condition had worsened and now required medical attention. Downing Street again refused to confirm that Mr Blair was suffering from an atrial flutter. But West London s Hammersmith Hospital, where he was treated, issued a statement saying this was indeed the problem. Yesterday Downing Street said simply that the claims made by Dr Ward were not true . But they refused to explain how their denials seven months ago could be reconciled with the now accepted facts about Mr Blair s condition. The row came as a furious Gordon Brown acknowledged through aides that Blair had fired the starting gun on a full-scale leadership battle by saying he intended to serve a full third term, without telling his Chancellor. An exclusive Mail on Sunday poll disclosed that Labour would poll five per cent more votes at the next General Election under Mr Brown than under Mr Blair. And claims over the attempted cover-up of Mr Blair s heart problems will add further to public concern, also reflected in our poll, that the Prime Minister can no longer be trusted. Dr Ward, a specialist in cardiac intervention, told The Mail on Sunday that eminent cardiologists had known for more than eight months that Mr Blair had was suffering from atrial flutter, which can cause sufferers to collapse and even die. But he only underwent the twoand-a-half-hour corrective procedure, which involves inserting a catheter into the heart, on Friday. It is totally and utterly criminally irresponsible to treat a Prime Minister like that, said Dr Ward. Atrial flutter can kill you, no question about that. It is a potentially debilitating condition which is not easy to treat with drugs. It could cause you to collapse as it pushes your heart rate up to 300 beats per minute. Why has he waited a year to have an operation he should have had within days of last year s heart problems? Dr Bernard Clarke, a consultant cardiologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary, said Mr Blair s catheter ablation therapy was the usual treatment for atrial flutter, and in most cases it cures the condition. He said the main risk of not treating the problem was a blood clot forming in the heart. If the clot goes off to the leg, kidney or brain it can be dangerous, he added.. Dr Ward says that, according to trusted sources in the medical world, Mr Blair was advised to have the corrective procedure more than six months ago, but aides feared it would cause too much political damage. At the time, the Prime Minister was under intense political pressure over Iraq and the row over university top-up fees. He should have been referred to a consultant electrophysiologist, said Dr Ward. I am told that Downing Street blocked the Prime Minister from seeing a consultant for fear of causing a national scare. Dr Ward says he was told about Mr Blair s true condition by a friend very close to the goings-on , although he refused to name the source. I would stake my life on it being true, he said.. It is unusual for clinicians to speak out in this way, but Dr Ward insists he felt compelled to do so on the grounds of medical ethics. The Prime Minister should be treated like any other human being and if he is being blocked from seeing some specialist because it will result in a heart operation and the stock market will crash or something it is disgraceful, he said.. The Mail on Sunday has also learned that Downing Street first contacted Hammersmith Hospital about the operation ten days ago, although the final decision to book him in on Friday was not made until the start of the week. A Downing Street spokesman said last night: The story isn t true. We said at the time last year what his condition was. His consultant has made a statement this week on the record, we ve nothing to add. But the official 360-word state-ment issued by Dr Punit Ramrakha, Blair s cardiologist, carefully avoided any reference to a specific heart condition, describing it only as an irregular heartbeat . Yet a separate statement issued by the Hammersmith Hospital on Friday specifically referred to it as an atrial flutter . The hospital last night declined to comment. END |
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