Bush Gets ‘Clean Bill of Health’ in His Last Checkup as President

President Bush said he received a “clean bill of health” Tuesday in his annual physical examination, although the White House physician said the President was given a cortisone shot to relieve arthritis pain in his left hip.

Bush, 68, emerged smiling from 4 1/2 hours of tests and examinations at nearby Bethesda Naval Medical Center. He gave a thumbs-up sign with both hands, announced his fitness and returned to work.

It was Bush’s last physical examination as President. His medical records and X-rays will be transferred to his personal physician in Houston on Inauguration Day.

Dr. Burton Lee III, the White House physician, issued a written statement saying, “there is no change in his medical status from last year.”

Lee disclosed that Bush, a regular jogger, received a cortisone injection to ease “recent persistent pain” in his left hip. He provided no details on the pain or the treatment, beyond saying that over the past four years Bush’s “osteoarthritic problems with his hips . . . have not progressed significantly.”

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said later that the pain in Bush’s left hip was from arthritis.

The doctor added that Bush’s previously diagnosed case of a type of early glaucoma in one eye was “completely stable” and required no treatment. He also said his thyroid function was normal.

Lee said Bush underwent a stress test, a cardiac examination, blood tests and X-rays, and that results from all were “within normal limits.”