Guess It Beats "Finding Religion" for Forgiveness . . . .

Serious medical issue or convenient excuse?

From this afternoon's Toronto Star:

Robert Novak diagnosed with brain tumour
TheStar.com - World July 28, 2008
Denise Lavoie - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Conservative political commentator Robert Novak announced today he has been diagnosed with a brain tumour, less than a week after he struck a pedestrian with his Corvette and drove away.

Novak, 77, fell ill on Cape Cod this weekend while visiting his daughter and was rushed to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he said he was diagnosed Sunday with the tumour.

"I will be suspending my journalistic work for an indefinite but, God willing, not too lengthy period," Novak, editor of the Evans-Novak Political Report, said in the statement released by his publisher, Eagle Publishing.

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Novak's office refused further comment to The Associated Press, other than to confirm the comments on the newspaper website.

Hospital spokesman Kevin Myron confirmed Novak was a patient, but said Novak requested that no further information be released.

Last week, Novak was given a $50 citation after he struck a homeless man with his black Corvette in downtown Washington. Novak kept going until he was stopped by a bicyclist, who said the man was splayed on Novak's windshield.

Dr. Lynne Taylor, a neuro-oncologist at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, said residents at the hospital are taught to check for brain tumours in patients who report having a recent car accident in which they didn't realize they struck something.

"People get spatial and visual neglect of a certain part of their bodies and they don't realize they've done what they've done," said Taylor, a fellow with the American Academy of Neurology.

I guess time will tell . . . .

(Cross-posted at Moved to Vancouver)