Rehnquist Says He's Staying

Chief Justice: 'I'm Not About To Announce My Retirement'

(CBS/AP) 
Rehnquist had been going to his office at the court daily but did not show up as usual Wednesday morning. Members of the news media near his residence saw a court police officer make several trips to the house, leaving each time with various personal items. First the officer carried out Rehnquist's distinctive cane and a shirt. Later, he brought out other clothing.

In response to queries, Arberg issued a two-sentence statement saying Rehnquist was hospitalized for a fever and was undergoing tests.

It was the second time in less than four months that Rehnquist was taken by ambulance to the hospital. In March, he was taken in with breathing problems. He did not stay overnight then.

Rehnquist has a tracheotomy tube that helps him breathe. He has been treated since October for thyroid cancer and was absent from the bench for five months.

The chief justice has refused to say whether he plans to retire, telling reporters camped outside his house last week: “That's for me to know and you to find out.”

Dr. Kenneth Burman, a thyroid specialist at Washington Hospital Center who is not involved in Rehnquist's treatment, said it was not unusual for a cancer patient to check into the hospital with fever. “It could be a minor local infection around the tracheotomy tube,” he said.

A more serious possibility, he said, is that the cancer has spread and caused infection. Other possibilities, he said, are pneumonia, allergies to medicine or reaction to chemotherapy.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who has a type of cancer involving the lymph nodes, said doctors “take extensive precautions with cancer patients who have elevated symptoms.”

So far, the Supreme Court has released only the barest of details about Rehnquist's health. Among the unanswered questions is whether he has the most serious type of thyroid cancer, which is often fatal within months.