Justice Ginsburg home from hospital
87-year-old treated for a possible infection
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a four-time cancer survivor, was released from a Baltimore hospital Wednesday after treatment for a possible infection.
Ginsburg, 87, the court’s oldest justice, had experienced fever and chills Monday night and underwent an endoscopic procedure at Johns Hopkins Hospital the following day to clean out a bile duct stent that was inserted last August.
Court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg had said Ginsburg was likely to remain at the hospital for several days of intravenous antibiotic treatment. But on Wednesday, the court announced that she was discharged.
“She is home and doing well,” the court said.
Ginsburg’s health has been a cause for worry among Democrats and liberals for years.
She declined to retire under President Barack Obama and has had several medical issues during President Donald Trump’s time in office.
The court has a 5-4 conservative majority that could be expanded if she were to leave before the November election, or potentially up until Inauguration Day in January.
Senate Republicans have said they would try to replace her with a conservative justice.
If Democrats win the White House or the Senate in November, that would change the equation.
Ginsburg has had several health issues dating back to 1999, including colorectal, pancreatic and lung cancer. Her lung cancer was diagnosed in December 2018, and she had a second bout of pancreatic cancer last August.
Still, she has kept up with the court’s work, including during May’s telephonic oral arguments held remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic.
She joined one such debate from Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she was recovering from acute cholecystitis, a benign gallbladder condition.
Ginsburg was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and is now second in length of service among the current justices, behind Associate Justice Clarence Thomas.