# How Much Longer Does Ginsburg Have? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 7, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368 "2019-01-07T19:17:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/1 "2019-01-07T19:17:12Z")
Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She’s tough. And you do have to admire that, whatever your political persuasion. But she also is recovering from lung cancer. I read on the AT&T news website that that cancer has only an 18 percent chance of survival. Although they may have caught it early. She plans on being on the court at least another 5 years. And I don’t mean to be morbid or indelicate. But is chance on her side to do that? It is a perfectly valid question I think. Oh, and BTW, I dispute the suggestion she is a liberal. I would call her a moderate. But that’s just me;). :):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/2 "2019-01-07T19:26:28Z")
Well, she only has to make it to next year and then trump can’t appoint her successor. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/3 "2019-01-07T20:56:41Z")
Not showing up to Supreme Court oral argument, which per the NYT, is the first time in 25 years she hasn’t shown up, is not a point in favor of her remaining on the bench much longer. [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/us/politics/justice-ginsburg-miss-supreme-court.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/us/politics/justice-ginsburg-miss-supreme-court.html) IIRC, other Justices have been rumored to have lingered on the bench with various health and personality issues, letting their clerks do most of the heavy lifting of crafting their judicial opinions, so this isn’t unprecedented. And if I’m not mistaken, there’s a great deal of leeway given the Justice’s determination of whether s/he can continue to perform the duties of their office. Short answer, she has as long as she wants, provided she doesn’t actually die. She’s fought off a lot of diseases that would have killed most of the rest of us. Who survives pancreatic cancer? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/4 "2019-01-07T21:11:18Z")
I think she’s dying. I’ll be surprised if she makes it to the end of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/5 "2019-01-07T21:13:30Z")
An oldie (2005) but a goodie from Con Law professor at GW Law, Jonathan Turley, on previous Supreme Court Justices afflicted with various ailments, who nonetheless continued to serve on the bench. > **[Through Addictions to Dementia: Supreme Court Justices Have Refused to Step...](https://jonathanturley.org/2007/08/30/through-addictions-to-dementia-supreme-court-justices-have-refused-to-step-down-the-need-for-reforming-the-supreme-court/)** > > The health problems of Chief Justice Roberts raises a long-standing problem on the Court, addressed in this prior column. Orignially published in August 2005 It came as something of a shock at the … So, even if Ginsburg right now is hooked up to more machines at home than Steve Austin in the opening sequence of The Six Million Dollar Man, she gets to call it quits when she, and only she, wants to. Unless she dies, of course. I’m sort of surprised that Turley didn’t mention Justice Fortas as someone who hung onto his seat after he should have stepped down for personal reasons. Thought he was the poster child for this sort of thing, though the story of Justice Frank Murphy trying to score illegal drugs twice a day for his addiction was one I hadn’t heard before. > [@](#): > > “By the time Justice Frank Murphy, a former U.S. attorney general who joined the court in 1940, was 57, he was addicted to drugs, including the painkiller Demerol. According to his biographer, Sidney Fine, Murphy bought illegal drugs twice a day when he was on the court.” ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/6 "2019-01-07T21:17:43Z")
they could pull a weekend at Bernie’s move and just drive her around for a while after she’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/7 "2019-01-07T21:19:42Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > … So, even if Ginsburg right now is hooked up to more machines at home than Steve Austin in the opening sequence of The Six Million Dollar Man, she gets to call it quits when she, and only she, wants to. Unless she dies, of course. … She could, theoretically, be impeached, but it’s exceedingly rare, and given the current partisan split in the House and Senate almost certainly not a realistic outcome. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/8 "2019-01-07T21:20:59Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > they could pull a weekend at Bernie’s move and just drive her around for a while after she’s gone. There are already [jokes online](https://www.thepubliceditor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/RBG_Weekend_At_Ginsburgs.jpg) about this. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/9 "2019-01-07T21:22:46Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Well, she only has to make it to next year and then trump can’t appoint her successor. I’m sure this is tongue in cheek, but I’d bet anything that the GOP would abandon those “principles” and ram through a nominee on January 19th 2021 if they could. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/10 "2019-01-07T21:25:27Z")
Wilson was pretty much not able to function for the last year he was in office . His wife shielded him from most everyone. But the 25th amendment was not adopted until 1967 after JFK was killed. There was a fear that Kennedy (or any president) might have survived the gunshots but left unable to function. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/11 "2019-01-07T22:00:49Z")
I thought her lung cancer nodes were all completely removed, meaning that the lung cancer isn’t an issue; not like it metastasized. Furthermore, even if she goes into a coma, she can’t be removed from office. Only outright death will do it, and with modern technology, she would most likely last at least until a Democrat becomes president. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/12 "2019-01-07T22:03:01Z")
She’s 85… Even without the cancer and other health issues, it’s 8 years past the average life expectancy. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/13 "2019-01-07T22:16:04Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I thought her lung cancer nodes were all completely removed, meaning that the lung cancer isn’t an issue; not like it metastasized. > … RBG reportedly had a prior fight with pancreatic cancer. The lung is one of the most common sites for metastasis of pancreatic cancer. So it is at least possible that the recent cancerous nodes removed from her lung are a spread from her prior pancreatic cancer. Or, after so much time apparently without a recurrence, the recent cancerous nodes could be a new cancer entirely. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/14 "2019-01-07T22:16:29Z")
The fact that they removed half of her left lung is actually a point in favor of her health, [according to WaPo](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-misses-supreme-court-arguments-for-first-time-as-she-recovers-from-cancer/2019/01/07/f49fa810-1283-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.35f4d531d402): > [@](#): > > … In a pulmonary lobectomy, a lobe of the lung is completely removed. The right lung has three lobes, the left has two. … Cancer specialists say the kind of surgery Ginsburg underwent is performed only when the doctors are convinced the cancer has not spread to other organs — in that case, the treatment would be a systemic therapy like chemotherapy. … ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/15 "2019-01-07T22:41:52Z")
I’m inclined to agree with Ditka: it’s the beginning of the end. Ginsburg is of sound mind, but physically frail even before the surgery. And now she’s battling the big C again. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/16 "2019-01-07T22:50:23Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > The fact that they removed half of her left lung is actually a point in favor of her health, [according to WaPo](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-misses-supreme-court-arguments-for-first-time-as-she-recovers-from-cancer/2019/01/07/f49fa810-1283-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.35f4d531d402): I think the WaPo is whistling past the graveyard with that statement. LOL at the idea of giving an 85 year old systemic chemotherapy. It’s her choice though. Another possibility, and one that better fits the publicly available evidence, is that the docs cut out what they could, patched her up as well as possible, and discharged her to palliative care in a private, non-hospital setting. IMHO, I’m not a doctor, but I do read guesses from them, and that hypo better fits the data. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/17 "2019-01-07T23:19:48Z")
Relax, folks; I have her in my 2019 Death Pool list so she’s guaranteed to survive! ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/18 "2019-01-08T00:01:28Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > I’m sure this is tongue in cheek, but I’d bet anything that the GOP would abandon those “principles” and ram through a nominee on January 19th 2021 if they could. McConnell already said that he wouldn’t abide by his own rule. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/19 "2019-01-08T02:00:11Z")
Ginsburg has shown remarkable resilience. She’s beaten several major illnesses without missing court. She must be in bad shape to miss oral arguments. Maybe it’s primarily pain? It can effect breathing. I hope she recovers soon and resumes her place on the court. > **[People With PCOS Say Ozempic, Mounjaro Can Help Manage Symptoms—Here's How](https://www.health.com/ozempic-mounjaro-pcos-7510971)** > > Some people with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) say that medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro, used off-label, can help alleviate symptoms. Currently, those drugs are only FDA-approved for treatment of diabetes and weight management, but experts... > [@](#): > > For most patients, the main hurdle post-pulmonary lobectomy is the pain due to incisions and manipulations between the ribs, says Dr. Flores. “When you’re in pain, it can feel difficult to take a big, deep breath in, and it’s also harder to speak,” he explains. “I’m sure Justice Ginsburg is able to speak, but is she able to project? That may be more difficult.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368/20 "2019-01-08T02:03:40Z")
OK, my morbid joke: she needs to make out a living will requiring that if she should fall into a coma, she be put on artificial life support if at all possible until January 21, 2021, at which point it may be withdrawn. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-does-ginsburg-have/827368.md?page=2)