Bentsen Health ‘Excellent,’ Doctor Says

WASHINGTON — At the age of 67, Democratic vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen enjoys “excellent health,” his doctor said in a medical report released Wednesday by the office of the Texas senator.

At the same time, Bentsen made public his income tax returns for the last five years and opened a blind trust to disclose all of his assets, confirming that he is a multimillionaire without revealing his precise wealth. He is believed to be worth at least $10 million.

Bentsen and his wife, Beryl Ann, reported gross income of $919,566 last year and paid $211,411 in federal taxes on that amount, their tax return showed. The report showed that their average gross income for the last five years was $772,181, and they paid an average of $264,453 in federal taxes during that time.

Admits to Errors

The senator acknowledged that he made several errors in past financial disclosure forms and submitted dozens of minor corrections to reports filed with the Senate since 1982 to comply with regulations. The revisions were “minor, miscellaneous changes made to correct inadvertent errors,” said Bentsen Press Secretary Jack Devore.

His medical data drew additional interest because his Republican counterpart, Sen. Dan Quayle of Indiana, is only 41 years old and was chosen in part for his youth.

But Bentsen got a glowing report from his personal physician, Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., chief of internal medicine at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, who said regular, vigorous exercise kept the senator in good shape.

“His physical condition is better than that of most men who are 20 years younger than he is,” Gotto told The Times in a telephone interview. “He’s in fantastic physical condition.”

The report showed that Bentsen took medication last spring to lower a high cholesterol reading and suffers occasionally from skin lesions on his hands and back.

Not Had Surgery Since 1983

Except for removal of an enlarged prostate gland in 1983 and a childhood tonsillectomy, he has not undergone surgery, the report said. A medical examination last April showed that his electrocardiogram, urinalysis and X-rays were normal.

On the financial side, Bentsen’s report indicated that his assets totaled at least $4,230,000, but the method of reporting used by the Senate made it impossible to calculate his wealth more precisely.

He reported several items--including U.S. Treasury bills, holdings of several stocks and his personal residences in Washington and Houston--in a category that indicates only that they are worth more than $250,000 each without specifying any maximum figure.

While most of his assets appeared to be in real estate and closely held family businesses, his once-blind trust included at least $15,000 worth of stock in such well-known companies as Boeing, Exxon, Gulf & Western, Chevron and Caterpillar Tractor. In 1987, he and his wife reported receiving $102,621 in dividends alone, as well as $552,469 in capital gains on the sale of stocks or other investments and $223,254 in interest payments.

Bentsen acknowledged making mistakes on previous filings, such as failing to report an interest of at least $50,000 in the Tide LPG Co. of Edinburg, Tex., in 1987 and a holding worth at least $15,000 in the Tide LPG Co. of Mathis, Tex. He also amended a 1983 report to disclose a loan of at least $15,000 to his son, L. M. Bentsen III and the purchase of at least $15,000 worth of stock in his son’s securities business.

Tells of Incomplete Reports

In a letter to Sen. Howell Heflin (D-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, which makes the rules for senators’ financial disclosure statements, Bentsen said some of his prior reports were not as complete as they should have been.

In a document filed in 1984, he said, he failed to disclose his holdings of two issues of Texas municipal bonds worth at least $200,000 during a period when he was managing his own investments. When he resumed use of a blind trust, he said, he failed to report that he was aware of an investment in a firm called PPI Ltd. and later did not report to the Senate that he knew his trustee had invested at least $250,000 in 1987 in a business formed by his son, Lan.

In addition, he said, his lawyers recommended a series of additions and deletions to financial disclosure reports filed from 1982 through 1987 to bring them into compliance with the rules.