Ruth Bader Ginsburg Health Update: Justice Returns To Supreme Court

On Tuesday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stepped up to the bench for her first oral argument since announcing that she’d undergone surgery in December for cancer.

The 85-year-old member of the court’s liberal wing was said to have walked with her colleagues through the velvet curtains behind the bench at 10 a.m., looking as healthy as she did before the surgery.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Health Update

While recovering from her December 21 surgery to remove two cancerous nodules from her lower left lung, Ginsburg was forced to miss arguments in 11 cases during the month of January. This is the first time in more than 25 years on the court that her health has kept her from the bench. But while recovering from surgery, she continued to stay on top of things by reading transcripts and briefs from home and she is expected to vote in the cases she missed.

Ginsburg’s cancer was first detected in November after she fell in her office and was scanned as a part of her treatment for fractured ribs. After her surgery took place, the court announced that there was no remaining evidence of the disease and no other treatment was required. 

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“Recovery from these types of operations can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months,” CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said.

“Given that Justice Ginsburg is 85 years old and also recently broken her ribs, seven weeks of recovery seems on track. Because there is no evidence of remaining disease, she should not need any more therapy, but may have but may have follow-up scans in the future,” he continued.

Ginsburg’s return to court had been expected after she was spotted at a concert last week and attending the justices’ regular closed-door conference, in which the justices decide which cases they are going to review. The 85-year old, who turns 86 on March 15, has maintained that she will remain on the court as long as her health permits.