Don't think that the fact that the Vice-President may not be in top physical shape is the reason he developed his blood clot--or that being in good shape will exempt you from the problem. I'm a regular runner and swimmer who has had professional reasons for regular long-haul plane travel--often to Asia from the East Coast of the US--16 hours plus to Hong Kong, for instance. Three years ago, I developed a DVT. It turns out that marathon runners are at risk for such; a low resting pulse, it seems, may cause the blood to pool. I had also had two glasses of wine; alcohol dehydrates. I have now developed a complex regimen to avoid a recurrence, including self-injections of Lovenox, a short-acting blood thinner (this is an off-label use but well-supported in the medical literature, my doctor tells me); avoiding alcohol, wearing special travel socks (up to the knee and tight) and even doing exercises in the restroom (leg movements). No recurrence, thankfully.
But a 3- month course of blood thinner such as that prescribed for Dick Cheney is no fun--diet restrictions, frequent blood tests. Better to avoid the problem in the first place.

Just to warn your readers that blood clots do not occur only in the lower leg from sitting on long airplane flights nor do they necessarily have symptoms. I got one in the hospital last summer after a fairly extended stay there. The doctors and nurses asked me every day if I had pain in my lower legs and even kneaded my calves and asked if I had any pain. I had none. Two days after I left the hospital I was back in the emergency room, where they diagnosed a pulmonary embolism, luckily a small one so I am still here. But my clot was asymptomatic and in the upper left leg, so it wasn't caught. Like a previous poster I was on Lovanox for about 10 days and since then--more than 6 months--have been on Warfarin, the generic version of the blood thinner Coumadin. If Cheney only has to be on a blood thinner for 3 months, he is lucky.

My 6'2" husband must take long overseas flights for his dept. in the Fed. Govt., yet his Dept. won't pay to seat him in business class and his knees are pressed into the seat ahead of him for the length of the flight, unless he stands. It's an outrage!

Isn't there an OSHA law about this? Aren't employers (particularly the Fed) required to provide ergonomically correct seating for employees whom they send on long flights??

Fly United, at least they have Economy Plus.

Isn't it awesome that Dick gets treated immediately and the poor guys coming back from the real war zone (to which he sent them) have to exist in the lovely building 18? I cannot possibly be the only one to see the terrible irony here.