Sparrowhawk
06-28-02, 05:37 PM
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Bush to undergo colonoscopy
Power to be transferred to VP Cheney
By Charlene Laino
MSNBC
June 28 — President Bush said Friday that he plans to undergo a routine screening test for colon cancer on Saturday. Bush, who has had benign growths removed during colonoscopies in the past, will briefly transfer power to Vice President Cheney while he is under sedation.
BUSH, 55, said he had no signs or symptoms of illness. “I feel great,” he told reporters as he prepared to leave for his presidential retreat for the weekend.
The colonoscopy — his third — is “part of the annual physical exam.”
POWER TRANSFER A PRECEDENT
The president is setting a precedent in transferring power to the vice president while he is under sedation for about an hour.
But Americans should not read anything into the decision, Bush said. “I’m the first president to have done so under this type of procedure and/or physical examination [and I am doing it] because we’re at war. And I just want to be super cautious.”
The vice president “realizes he’s not going to be president that long,” he said.
According to NBC’s Dr. Ian Smith, Bush will be sedated with a commonly prescribed hypnotic agent known as propofol.
“It’s not like having general anesthesia,” Smith said. “Within 15 to 25 minutes of the procedure, he should be fine.”
Bush to undergo colonoscopy
Power to be transferred to VP Cheney
By Charlene Laino
MSNBC
June 28 — President Bush said Friday that he plans to undergo a routine screening test for colon cancer on Saturday. Bush, who has had benign growths removed during colonoscopies in the past, will briefly transfer power to Vice President Cheney while he is under sedation.
BUSH, 55, said he had no signs or symptoms of illness. “I feel great,” he told reporters as he prepared to leave for his presidential retreat for the weekend.
The colonoscopy — his third — is “part of the annual physical exam.”
POWER TRANSFER A PRECEDENT
The president is setting a precedent in transferring power to the vice president while he is under sedation for about an hour.
But Americans should not read anything into the decision, Bush said. “I’m the first president to have done so under this type of procedure and/or physical examination [and I am doing it] because we’re at war. And I just want to be super cautious.”
The vice president “realizes he’s not going to be president that long,” he said.
According to NBC’s Dr. Ian Smith, Bush will be sedated with a commonly prescribed hypnotic agent known as propofol.
“It’s not like having general anesthesia,” Smith said. “Within 15 to 25 minutes of the procedure, he should be fine.”