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MD House Speaker Hit With Pneumonia

House Speaker Michael Busch (D-MD)
official photo
House Speaker Michael Busch (D-MD)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch says he has developed a case of pneumonia, after a follow-up health procedure to his 2017 liver transplant.

Busch released a statement Monday to provide an update after he missed presiding over legislative sessions last week.

The speaker says he started feeling run-down after a Democratic Caucus meeting last Tuesday. Busch says he is staying in touch with his staff and members of House leadership.

He says that while he hopes to be back before the legislative session ends next week at midnight Monday, Busch says "doctors have advised caution during my recovery."

In addition to a liver transplant in 2017, the 72-year-old speaker had bypass surgery last year. He is the longest serving House speaker in the state's history.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.