Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fall
Nov 8, 2018, 7:25 AM | Updated: 8:43 am
(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized after she fractured three ribs from a fall in her office, the Supreme Court announced on Thursday.
BREAKING: Supreme Court: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall at court.
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 8, 2018
The Supreme Court said the 85-year-old initially went home after the fall on Wednesday evening, but decided to go to George Washington University Hospital after experiencing discomfort overnight.
Tests showed that Ginsburg fractured three ribs on her left side. She was admitted for observation and treatment, the court said.
In her absence, the court was going ahead Thursday with a courtroom ceremony welcoming new Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who joined the court last month. President Donald Trump and new acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker were expected to attend.
Ginsburg has had a series of health problems. She broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. She also was hospitalized after a bad reaction to medicine in 2009.
Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, Ginsburg rebuffed suggestions from some liberals that she should step down in the first two years of President Barack Obama’s second term, when Democrats also controlled the Senate and would have been likely to confirm her successor.
She already has hired clerks for the term that extends into 2020, indicating she has no plans to retire.
Ginsburg leads the court’s liberal wing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.