The Berlin Regional Court ruled for Schwarzenegger in November of 1999, ordering Dr. Willi Heepe to pay the ''Terminator'' star $10,300 in damages and issue a public retraction.

Heepe, who never examined Schwarzenegger, said during a 1998 radio interview that the Austrian-born actor was not likely to live much longer because of a heart condition.

The 53-year-old Schwarzenegger, one of Hollywood's best-known action stars of the past decade, donated his winnings to Special Olympics Germany. Heepe has since issued the retraction and an apology.

A publicist for Schwarzenegger, a former champion body-builder who had elective surgery in 1997 to repair a defective heart valve, said the ruling had been upheld by the Berlin High Court on appeal.

``I am delighted that the Berlin High Court agreed that it was wrong for Dr. Heepe to make false statements about my health,'' Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

``This reconfirms that the record must be set straight that I am in excellent health, as I have been since my elective surgery in 1997,'' he said. ``I hope that my prosecution of this case sends a strong message to opportunists around the world that I will not sit back passively when people tell lies about me.''