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Mother Nature, The Supreme Court, and Healthcare

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By Gary Gonsalves, M.D.
Posted Feb 4, 2011

The physician in me has been privately pondering a question about our Supreme Court justices and our health care law, which was recently declared unconstitutional by Judge Roger Vinson. 

Here is my question;  Is it possible that Obama leftists are trying to delay the Supreme Court from hearing case because they want to see if the balance of the court will change in the next couple of years?  Stated differently, the doctor in me acknowledges that many of our Supreme Court Justices are “past their prime”, and some have definite health issues that can be found using a basic google search.

Before I proceed, I want to be clear that I have no personal knowledge of the health issues facing any of our Supreme Court justices, nor do I know any physicians that are involved in their care.  To comment with such knowledge would be inappropriate.

The political activist in me understands that if our health care law went before the Supreme Court today, there is a fair chance that the law would be overturned by a 5-4 vote, assuming Kagan does not recuse herself.   As a reminder, if Elana Kagan, as President Obama’s Solicitor General, expressed an opinion about lawsuits filed challenging the Consitutionality of Obamacare, she should recuse herself.

Back to the health issues.  Life expectancy in the United States is approximately 77 years, and most of us do not work til our dying day….Supreme Courty Justices are not most of us.   Since 1742, we have had 112 Supreme Court Justices; 49 one them died while in service of the court.  So, let’s take a look at the apparent health of the five judges who are generally considered conservative. 

Anthony Kennedy, Age 74:  In 2006, Justice Kennedy was hospitalized for chest pain.  Before he was discharged from the hospital, public records reveal that he had a coronary stent placed.  Coronary artery disease is rarely limited to a single blood vessel and is often accompanied with other health ailments such as hypertension and diabetes, both of which predispose to other ailments such as strokes, kidney disease, or other problems of the circulatory system.  If I had to guess, I would say that Justice Kennedy is not diabetic, as this disease is frequently accompanied by obesity in the adult population. 

Many consider Justice Kennedy to be a swing conservative vote. 

Antonin Scalia, Age 74:  In a cursory search, I have not discovered any specific information about Justice Scalia’s health.  However, his pictures clearly show that he is overweight.  Of significance, he seems to have a truncal distribution of weight (AKA Belly Fat).  Of note, carrying weight in this distribution is an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease, independent of person’s body mass index.  Furthermore, truncal obesity is a risk factor for coronary artery disease even after adjusting for age, cholesterol levels, diabetic status, hypertension, and smoking status.  In short, truncal obesity is not good. 

Justice Scalia is a consistently conservative judge.

Clarence Thomas, Age 62:  Unfortunately, the life expectancy for black males is nearly seven-ten year less than their white male counterparts.  There are several reasons for this, many of which are not applicable to Justice Thomas.    As for the black population in general, the following contribute to a shorter life expectancy:

    1. Up to 40% of black men die prematurely form cardiovascular disease (compared to 21% in white males),
    2. They have a higher death rate from oral cancers
    3. 44% of black men are overweight, 24% obese (not Justice Thomas)
    4. Higher incidence of diabetes and prostate cancer

I have not found any specific health issues for Justice Thomas and I hope he lives a long productive life and never retires from the high court. 

Justice Thomas is perhaps the most conservative judge on the Supreme Court.

Samuel Alito, Age 60: I have very little to offer regarding Justice Alito.  Fortunately he is relatively young and conservative.  He comes from an Italian-Amierican background.  I am unable to determine his smoking status or anything else regarding his health, therefore, I tried to track his family history.  In other words, how was the health of his parents?  How old were they when they died.  I found nothing….but I did not look past the first few google pages.  Justice Alito’s father is deceased, but the cause of death is not easily found (nor was his age).  It seems his mother may have been born in 1914 and might still be alive.  While I need to confirm this finding, if true, this would be a good sign for Justice Alito.

John G Roberts (Chief Justice), Age 56:  Though one of the youngest Supreme Court Justices, Judge Roberts has a history of seizures.  Specifically, Justice Roberts had seizures in 1993 and 2007.  New onset seizures in adults can be very concerning (eg mass lesions, tumors, bleeding), but the evaluation of Justice Roberts did not reveal the cause of the seizure.  A typical medical evaluation for seizures would include blood analysis, CAT – scan/MRI of the brain, EEG (study of the electrical brain activity).  The Supreme Court’s official statement is that Justice Roberts is “fully recovered from the incident”. 

As a physician, I have cared for many adults with infrequent seizures.  This is not a major concern.  It is possible he is on medications to prevent the seizures.  The significant issue here is the possibility of being injured during a seizure.  Eg fall injury, automobile accident, etc.  At one point Justice Roberts was not driving.  I’m not sure if this is still true.

So, given the above information, I have to ask if President Obama’s legal team is trying to delay a Supreme Court ruling (on healthcare), in part, to see if Mother Nature changes the balance of court.  It would seem like a rational strategy, but one they would never acknowledge.  I would love to hear your thoughts. 

 

 

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