‘Dancing With the Stars’ Judge Carrie Ann Inaba Hospitalized Following Mid-Flight Medical Emergency

Longtime “Dancing With the Stars” judge Carrie Ann Inaba was transported by ambulance to a New York hospital after suffering a medical emergency during a cross-country flight. The 57-year-old television personality, who has publicly chronicled her struggles with autoimmune conditions, shared details of the frightening incident with her followers after receiving treatment.

The incident unfolded aboard a commercial flight bound for New York, where Inaba reportedly began experiencing distressing symptoms mid-air. Flight crews coordinated with ground personnel to ensure emergency medical services were waiting at the gate upon arrival. According to her own public statements, paramedics evaluated her before determining that transport to a hospital for further observation was warranted. While the specific nature of the medical episode has not been fully disclosed, Inaba has been open about how air travel — with its reduced cabin pressure, dehydration risk, and prolonged immobility — can aggravate her existing autoimmune conditions.

Inaba’s health history has become a central part of her public advocacy in recent years. In 2020, she took a leave of absence from her co-hosting role on the daytime talk show “The Talk,” citing the need to focus on her wellness. She ultimately departed that program in 2021. Her candid discussions about autoimmune disease have resonated with the estimated 50 million Americans living with such conditions, according to figures from the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association. Sjögren’s syndrome alone, one of her diagnoses, affects as many as four million people in the United States and can cause profound fatigue, joint pain, and complications that are often misdiagnosed or dismissed for years before proper identification.

In-flight medical emergencies are more common than the general public often realizes. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine estimated that roughly one medical emergency occurs for every 604 flights, translating to tens of thousands of incidents each year across global aviation. Cardiac events, syncope, respiratory distress, and complications from chronic illness account for the majority of those cases. Inaba’s recovery and any potential impact on her filming schedule for the current “Dancing With the Stars” season will likely be monitored closely by fans and colleagues alike as she continues to balance her high-profile career with ongoing health management.