Nov. 25 (UPI) — The polyp removed from President Joe Biden‘s colon last week during a colonoscopy has been diagnosed as benign, the physician to the president said.
In a memo released Wednesday but dated a day prior, Kevin O’Connor, the physician to the president, said the excised 3 mm polyp removed Nov. 19 from Biden’s ascending colon has been identified as “a benign, slow-growing but thought to be potentially pre-cancerous lesion.”
The doctor said “no further action is required at this time” but stated routine surveillance is recommended.
“Typically, repeat colonoscopy in seven to 10 years is recommended,” it said.
The polyp excised is similar to one removed from Biden in 2008, it said, identifying it as a “tubular adenoma.”
Biden was placed under anesthesia during last week’s colonoscopy, which was part of his first annual physical exam in office at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Maryland, requiring Vice President Kamala Harris to become the first woman to hold presidential authority as he underwent the routine procedure.
The doctor had said that Biden was generally fit.
“President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous, 78-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the president,” O’Connor wrote in a six-page summary of his findings last week.
