L.A. Urologist New Physician at White House
WASHINGTON — Dr. Burton Smith, a Los Angeles urologist, began his new job as White House physician today, replacing Dr. Daniel Ruge.
Smith, 68, has been President Reagan’s longtime physician in Los Angeles. “He knows me and I know him,” Smith said of the President.
Smith said he thinks the 73-year-old Reagan is “in great shape.” So far, he has seen him “personally, but not physically.”
Ruge, a neurosurgeon, departed quietly after nearly four years in the demanding job. An assistant in the White House doctor’s office said that he was returning to his old job with the Veterans Administration.
Ruge is a family friend of Nancy Reagan and was an assistant to her late father, Dr. Loyal Davis, a respected Chicago neurosurgeon.
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