Nov 24, 2021 - Politics & Policy

WH physician: Biden polyp removed during colonoscopy is "benign"

Rebecca Falconer

President Joe Biden walks to the West Wing from Marine One on the South Lawn off the White House on November 21 — President Biden walking to the West Wing from Marine One on the South Lawn off the White House on Sunday. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images

President Biden had a polyp removed that was a "benign, slow-growing, but thought to be precancerous lesion" after having a routine colonoscopy last week, the White House physician said in a memorandum released Wednesday.

Driving the news: Testing identified it "as a tubular adenoma," which was "similar to the polyp which he had removed in 2008," according to physician Kevin O'Connor's memo, dated Tuesday.

O'Connor added that "no further action is required at this time," but Biden should receive a "repeat colonoscopy in 7 to 10 years."

The big picture: Biden briefly transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris as he underwent the colonoscopy at Walter Reed Medical Center last Friday.

That made Harris the first woman to hold presidential power in U.S. history.

Read O'Connor's memo in full, via DocumentCloud:

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WH physician: Biden polyp removed during colonoscopy is "benign"

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