Chief justice John Roberts suffered a seizure on Monday, July 30 at around 2 P.M. at his summer home in Maine. Roberts was on his dock when the seizure occurred, which caused him to fall and receive minor injuries.
The chief justice was transported to a hospital where he received a neurological evaluation. Doctors concluded that Roberts experienced a “benign idiopathic seizure” which means that there was no explanation for the seizure such as a tumor or a stroke.
The chief justice experienced one other seizure back in 1993, but considered it to be an isolated event. By definition, someone who has had more than one seizure is considered to have epilepsy. Doctors have not decided at this point if Roberts will need to take anti-seizure medication, but the likelihood of another seizure occurring after two have already happened is greater than 60 percent.
“Having two seizures so many years apart without any known culprit is going to be very difficult to figure out,” said Dr. Max Lee of the Milwaukee Neurological Institute.
Roberts has reported that he is doing well after sustaining the seizure. Roberts was named to the court by President Bush in 2005 after the death of William Rehnquist. He is also the youngest justice on a court at the age of 52.
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