Bernard Madoff being treated for hypertension: Official

Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff is being treated for high blood pressure and dizziness, and was not hurt by another prisoner, a US Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said on Thursday.

"Bernie Madoff was not assaulted. He's being treated at the (Butner) federal medical center for dizziness and hypertension," said Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley.                                           

A Raleigh, North Carolina television station reported on its website that Madoff was hospitalised late last week and treated for facial fractures, broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Citing unidentified sources, the station reported that Madoff''s injuries were consistent with an assault.                                           

Madoff, 71, was treated at Duke University hospital late last week, and was discharged earlier this week, the station reported. He is serving a 150-year sentence at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina after pleading guilty to a $65 billion investment fraud that bilked thousands of investors worldwide. 

Duke University Medical Center denied the television station's report. "There's been no patient at our hospital with that name," said Debbe Geiger, a Duke University Medical Center spokeswoman. She declined to comment further.                                           

Madoff's lawyer, Ira Sorkin, could not be reached for comment. On Wednesday, the prisons bureau confirmed Madoff had been moved to the prison's medical facility for undisclosed reasons last week. There has been frequent scrutiny of Madoff's health.

In late August, The New York Post reported Madoff was diagnosed with cancer and was terminally ill, but prison officials denied the published report.