• March 29, 2024

Another Doctor Gives Grim Prognosis For Justice Ginsburg

A doctor who has not examined Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg does not have good news for her.

In examining her case from what is public record the doctor believes her days are numbered, he said in an oped for The Daily Caller.

Last month, she fell, fracturing three ribs. Presumably, the lung nodules were found by x-ray after her fall. Further imaging likely caused her doctors to recommend removing the nodules.

Interestingly, a week ago, she told a group of admirers, “My health is fine.” Perhaps the Clinton appointed justice is borrowing a page from Bill Clinton, parsing the meaning of “health” and “fine”.

Her surgeon last week removed two malignant nodules. Were they primary lung cancer or metastases from one of her previous cancers?

She had colon cancer in 1999 and pancreatic cancer in 2009, both of which are known to spread to the lungs. The lungs are a common site for metastatic cancer as the entire blood supply flows through the lungs, carrying cancer cells from distant parts of the body.

If these nodules were not metastatic, then she would have primary lung cancer. While possible, having three different types of cancer is unusual. Ginsburg was not a smoker, which makes lung cancer less likely. Occam’s Razor suggests metastatic cancer.

Her lung nodules will be examined microscopically to determine the type of and origin of the malignancy. Until that news is announced, we can only speculate.

If her cancer is indeed metastatic, it is considered to be stage IV, with the worst prognosis. For stage IV colon cancer, the five-year survival is 15 percent. For pancreatic cancer, the five-year survival for stage IV disease is much worse at only 3 percent.

Justice Ginsburg’s fall was fortuitous in that her lung nodules were diagnosed early. While they would eventually be found, they may have grown to the point where surgery was no longer possible…

What’s next for Justice Ginsburg? She first has to recover from her thoracic surgery and partial lung removal. That alone is no small feat in someone her age. She is at risk for bleeding, infection, respiratory issues, all on top of three broken ribs.

The writer, Brian C. Joondeph MD, MPS, is a doctor in the Denver area.

It is important to note again that he has not examined Justice Ginsburg and is speaking on what he has seen in the public record.

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