Chief Justice Roberts Hospitalized After Seizure

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press
July 31, 2007

WASHINGTON — Chief Justice Roberts suffered a seizure at his summer home in Maine yesterday, causing a fall that resulted in minor scrapes, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said. He will remain in a hospital in Maine overnight.

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

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

Justice Roberts had a similar episode in 1993, she said.

Doctors called yesterday's incident "a benign idiopathic seizure," Ms. Arberg said. The White House described the January 1993 episode as an "isolated, idiosyncratic seizure."

A benign seizure means that doctors performed an MRI and other tests to conclude there was no tumor, stroke, or other explanation.

In addition, doctors would have quickly ruled out simple explanations such as dehydration or low blood sugar.

By definition, 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 Justice 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%.

"When it's going to occur, obviously nobody knows," Dr. Schlosberg said.

The incident occurred around 2 p.m. EDT on a dock near the home in Port Clyde on Maine's Hupper Island. Port Clyde, which is part of the town of St. George, is about 90 miles by car northeast of Portland, midway up the coast of Maine.

Justice Roberts was taken by private boat to the mainland and then transferred to an ambulance, St. George Fire Chief Tim Polky said. "He was conscious and alert when they put him in the rescue" vehicle, Mr. Polky said.

Named to the court by President Bush in 2005, Justice Roberts is the youngest justice on a court in which the senior member, Justice Stevens, is 87. Mr. Bush was informed of the hospitalization by his chief of staff, Josh Bolten, the White House said.