UPDATE: Physician Claims Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Days Are Numbered

An expert physician has weighed in on Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s ongoing health problems, and the picture is rather bleak. Actually, it’s downright awful.

First of all, let me state for the record that we wish Justice Ginsburg nothing but the best, and we hope and pray for her full recovery. Nothing–I repeat, nothing–is worth wishing animosity or harm upon another human being.

I may disagree with her politically and even question her intellectual capacities as a reasonable and just jurist. But at the end of the day, I’d much rather be writing a story about her full and complete recovery rather than the reverse.

But for right now, all signs are pointing to something that no one with a heart would wish upon another human being.

Brian Joondeph (MD, MPS, Denver-based physician), an expert physician with all of the required credentials, has expanded upon RBG’s ongoing health struggles in a new op-ed.

From The Daily Caller:

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in the news again. Not for a controversial judicial opinion, but for her ongoing health issues. Last week, Ginsburg had surgery to remove a lobe of her lung as two suspicious lung nodules were found following her recent fall.

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. …

But even though many of us are left to speculate, physicians familiar with these sorts of diseases can do much more: They can tell what experience has taught them over long and storied careers.

Experience, Publius wrote in Federalist 15, is “the best oracle of wisdom.”

And experience, in this case, is against Justice Ginsburg.

Dr. Joondeph adds:

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.

Why did she fall? Falls are common in the elderly and are a leading cause of injury and death in that age group. Cancer occasionally spreads to the brain, affecting balance, but presumably, her doctors checked for this after her fall. Cardiac issues also cause lightheadedness and falls. Ginsburg had a cardiac stent placed in 2014. …

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.

Based on the cancer found in her lungs, further chemotherapy and/or radiation may be needed. As her medical challenges mount, her ability to serve on the nation’s highest court comes into question. Reportedly, she is already back up and working from her hospital bed.

As Justice Ginsburg’s retirement may be sooner rather than later based on her health, President Trump may soon have another court nominee. …

Read the whole thing here.

What do you think of this latest development?