Bush Doesn’t Need Heartbeat Drugs, White House Says

President Bush no longer requires medication to regulate his heartbeat, which became erratic while he was jogging four months ago, the White House announced Thursday.

Bush continues to take a drug to prevent blood clots, thyroid medicine and a chewable, low-dosage aspirin every other day to help avoid a heart attack, deputy White House Press Secretary Gary Foster said.

But “the President’s cardiac medications all stopped approximately two weeks ago,” he said.

“President Bush is still in excellent health,” with his weight stabilized at around 195 pounds, the spokesman said.

Bush swallowed a dose of radioactive iodine on May 9 to bring an overactive thyroid gland under control. Doctors prescribed the treatment after finding that he had Graves’ disease, a thyroid ailment.

Bush spent two nights in the hospital after fatigue forced him to stop jogging May 4 at Camp David. Doctors said he had an erratically fast heartbeat called an atrial fibrillation. A few days later, they cited Graves’ disease as the cause and ordered the iodine treatment.