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Justice John Roberts is recovering from “a benign idiopathic seizure” according to doctors at Penobscot Bay Medical Center where he was taken after a fall.

“It’s my understanding he’s fully recovered, said Christopher Burke, a spokesman for Penobscot Bay Medical Center, where Roberts was taken.

Roberts, 52, was taken by ambulance to the medical center, where he underwent a “thorough neurological evaluation, which revealed no cause for concern,” Arberg said in a statement.

Roberts had a similar episode in 1993, she said.

Doctors called Monday’s incident “a benign idiopathic seizure,” Arberg said. The White House described the January 1993 episode as an “isolated, idiosyncratic seizure.” Both descriptions indicate that doctors could not determine the seizure’s cause or link it to another medical condition. For example, doctors would have quickly ruled out simple explanations such as dehydration or low blood sugar.

Seizure classifications fall under very strict guidelines. The classification of the seizure is important from both a clinical perspective with respect to cause and the likelihood of recurrence. In this case it is being classified as a benign idiopathic seizure. They seem careful not to call it a Idiopathic epileptic seizure, likely because it does not have a recurrent pattern usually associated with epilepsies and was of a short duration. They are simply stating that the seizure is unprovoked with no precipitating factors and it is not symptomatic.

The doctors went beyond a simple idiopathic classification and labeled it benign, which means that they believe it is favorable for recovery (and hopefully having low chance of recurrence). But that doesn’t stop the AP from finding a doctor that knows nothing of Roberts from labeling it as epilepsy, which is technically correct because Roberts has had 2 seizures, and stating that there is a 60 percent chance that Roberts will have another.

Someone who has had more than one seizure without any other cause is determined to have epilepsy, said Dr. Marc Schlosberg, a neurologist at Washington Hospital Center, who is not involved in the Roberts’ case.

Whether Roberts will need anti-seizure medications to prevent another is something he and his doctor will have to decide. But after two seizures, the likelihood of another at some point is greater than 60 percent. “When it’s going to occur, obviously nobody knows,” Schlosberg said. (of course the AP is responsible for digging up this statement)

Note the phrasing and typical jump to conclusions as only could be had by the agenda driven MSM. “When it’s going” to occur as opposed to “if”.

The statement is designed to give the idiots at the Huffington Post a bit of encouragement to come up with the following headline:

Had First Seizure In 1993…60 Percent Likelihood Of Another…Roberts Called His Health “Excellent”

But it gets better because someone at the Daily Kos noticed that the Huffington Post attempted to smear Roberts with the following headline, which has subsequently been changed:

‘Had First Seizure in 1993…60 Percent Likelihood Of Another…Roberts Called His Health “Excellent” At Confirmation.‘

[snip]

The first three clauses to entice the reader to view the longer story are innocuous. The final clause, ‘Roberts Called His Health “Excellent” At Confirmation’ is a callous way of trying to smear the ailing Chief. Medical problems are not the place to score political points in most cases.

The editors at the Huffington Post removed the final two words, “at confirmation”. Probably because they read the following at CNN.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee were informed about the earlier seizure when they were considering Roberts’ nomination to be chief justice in 2005, but they did not think it was significant enough to bring up during his confirmation hearings, said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, who chaired the panel at the time.

“We knew but we didn’t draw a heavy breath on it,” Specter said Monday.

Nice bait and switch, indicative of the character and reliance of the crotchety internet rag.

Texas Rainmaker also caught the following get well wishes on Arianna windbag’s blog:

“Well there is a God after all. This man was going to set this nation back 100 years with the type of conservatism activist Federalist law he practices. Let God’s will be done!!!!”

“Amen to that. A long stay away from the Court would be fine. I won’t lie, I wish him a long painful recovery. In fact, I’m not so sure I care if he recovers.”

“Lets hope he is injured seriously. Chief Justice Roberts is a corupt right wing Bush lick ass criminal. Long after Bush is gone, Roberts will be helping destroy everything that is, or was once good about America.”

And guess what, it seems that the page is now having trouble loading the comments:

Oops. We couldn’t load comments for some reason. Try reloading the page.

BTW Arianna, don’t give me that bullshit about how the user comments ‘do not necessarily reflect the views of the Huffington Post.” They are right in line with the views of most of your readers, an offshoot, a natural extension of typical liberal politics.

Continuing on with a rundown of the usual suspects in the moonbat section of leftyland we can see that many wish nothing but ill will toward Roberts (and presumably his family since a-holes like the following bunch of idiots only view conservatives as road blocks to their agenda).

Wonkette had the following to say (h/t Paterrico): “Chief Justice John Roberts has died in his summer home in Maine. No, not really, but we know you have your fingers crossed.”

Isn’t it funny how hate speech really isn’t hate speech unless the target is one of the coveted victims groups championed by idiots like Wonkette?

The lowlifes on the Democratic Underground are caught once again spewing the typical rants of repugnant ass lickers:

Massachusetts: May Roberts and every other Bu$hco appointed treasonous Bastard rot in hell for their interpretive abuse and misuse of OUR (WE THE PEOPLES), Constitution and Rights! NO SYMPATHY HERE! MAYBE EXXON OR ONE OF THE BIG CORPS WHO CARE LESS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY AND PEOPLE WILL SEND HIM SOME LILIES.

eppur_se_muova: Great, just don’t bring him back. nt

mitchum: Fuck him; it wouldn’t bother me if that was a one way trip

Nice. I can only wish that those who call for ill will towards Roberts get the same ill will onto themselves. It’s a kind of karma. I hope they get theirs.

Justice Roberts will thankfully be fine. As for the leftistsphere, these episodes continue to expose them for the sick perverted morons that they are.

See Also: Michelle Malkin, Flopping Aces, Rhymes With Right

Update I: expanded on the diagnosis section to explain the benign label as meaning favorable for recovery.

Update II: Also, I find it interesting that the left would glom onto this seizure as something that would detract away from his duties as a chief justice. Aren’t they the self proclaimed advocates for every illness known to man? Let me answer that. Hardly. Like everything on the left that is just another bumper sticker designed to to buy votes; a facade for the foolish. None of these seizures has anything to do with intelligence anyway.

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