Schwarzenegger wins case against doctor

BERLIN — A Berlin court has ordered a heart specialist to pay Arnold Schwarzenegger $4,700 and retract a statement that the actor would die of heart disease, a court spokeswoman said yesterday.

The court found Dr. Willi Heepe guilty of slander on Thursday for making the statement during a 1998 radio talk show about the relationship between anabolic steroids and heart disease, the spokeswoman said.

Schwarzenegger underwent successful elective heart-valve replacement surgery to correct a congenital condition. The bodybuilder-turned-movie star since has made a full recovery.

The actor's lawyer argued that Heepe had never examined his client and therefore could make no such statement.

"This reconfirms that the record must be set straight that I am in excellent health," Schwarzenegger said in Los Angeles Thursday.

At Schwarzenegger's request, the damages imposed on Heepe will be paid to the Special Olympics Germany.

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