Winning Essay on Candidates' Medical Records Selected

Dorothy Skinner is the winner of the Sunshine Week Citizen Journalism Award for June for her essay posted on Helium.com addressing the issue of whether presidential candidates should be required to release their medical records.

Skinner's essay got right to it, opening with: "Perhaps the question should be why shouldn't they?"

Recognizing there is a reasonable balance between medical privacy and the right to know, Skinner noted, "Everyone deserves a private life but when someone puts himself in the public eye to attain the highest possible position of power and authority, that person must be open to public scrutiny."

Skinner's winning essay is available on the Helium Web site. Additional writings on the topic of candidate's medical records from other essayists also are online.

The July essay contest, which closes Aug. 12, asks writers to ponder whether the government has a role in overseeing the results of federally funded science or if the public has the right to view such information unfiltered.