Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had two cancerous growths removed from her left lung today, the Supreme Court’s public information office announced. After the surgery, which was performed at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, there was no sign of any other growths in her lung, and Ginsburg is resting comfortably in her hospital room.
The growths were discovered while Ginsburg was being treated for injuries to her ribs, which she fractured in a fall at the Supreme Court on November 7. The public information office indicated that scans performed before the surgery did not find any growths elsewhere in her body and that no further treatment beyond the surgery is planned. Ginsburg is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days.
It is the 85-year-old justice’s third bout with cancer: She was treated for colon cancer in 1999 and for pancreatic cancer in 2009. She also underwent heart surgery in 2014.
The Supreme Court is currently in recess. The justices are scheduled to meet for a private conference on January 4; they will take the bench for oral arguments on Monday, January 7. There is no word yet on whether Ginsburg will be present.
This post was originally published at Howe on the Court.
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