Washington
CNN
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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin undergoing treatment for prostate cancer He suffered complications and was taken to the hospital on New Year’s Day, where he is currently receiving treatment. According to a statement Tuesday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
According to the statement, the cancer was discovered in early December. He underwent a “minimally invasive surgical procedure” called a prostatectomy on Dec. 22 to treat his cancer.
“During this surgery, he was under general anesthesia. Secretary Austin recovered well from the surgery and went home the next morning. His prostate cancer was detected early and his prognosis is good,” the statement said. It’s dark.
On January 1, Austin was readmitted to the hospital due to complications, including “nausea with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain.” The man was found to have a urinary tract infection, her statement said.
The Pentagon faced intense questioning after it was revealed Friday that he was admitted to Walter Reed on Jan. 1 and remained there for several days without notifying the public. It was later reported that President Joe Biden, senior national security officials, and even Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, who took over Austin’s role, were unaware of the defense secretary’s hospitalization until three days after Austin was admitted.
But on Tuesday, the Pentagon revealed that Austin had kept the reason for his hospitalization — complications resulting from his cancer diagnosis and treatment — a secret not only from Pentagon officials but also from Biden himself. It raised big questions about transparency and communication. within the administration.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that Biden learned of Austin’s diagnosis only on Tuesday morning, hours before it was made public. Earlier, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Monday that the White House had also not been notified of Austin’s Dec. 22 proceedings.
“No one in the White House knew.”
“Until this morning, no one in the White House knew that Secretary Austin had prostate cancer, and the president was informed shortly thereafter,” John Kirby told reporters at a Tuesday afternoon briefing. he said.
Kirby said Biden was informed of Austin’s condition by chief of staff Jeff Zients on Tuesday morning.
It is unclear why Austin did not share his diagnosis with Biden when the two spoke Saturday night while Austin was hospitalized.
Despite keeping his diagnosis ambiguous to the president, Kirby said Biden has “complete confidence” in the defense secretary and intends to remain in the post for the remainder of his term, but at the same time he believes the situation is ideal. He also acknowledged that this is not the case.
“It’s not optimal for a situation like this to go on for this long without the knowledge of the commander in chief,” Kirby said.
When asked why he didn’t reveal that Austin had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, Ryder said the situation was “very personal.”
“[I]”His prostate cancer and related treatments are obviously very personal,” Ryder said Tuesday at a press conference at the Pentagon. “So, again, we will continue to work hard to be as transparent as possible. Again, we wish the Secretary a speedy recovery.”
During the last eight days that Austin worked at Walter Reed treating infectious diseases, he “never lost consciousness and never received general anesthesia.”
Ryder did not answer questions about who kept Biden from informing Austin that he had prostate cancer.
“When this happened in December, whose decision was it to not inform the president that the secretary of defense had prostate cancer?” a reporter asked during the briefing.
“As you know, regarding the status of the elective surgery and the Secretary’s condition, we are keeping the information as it comes to us. We received it this afternoon and we are providing it to you now,” Ryder said. , appears to be saying it didn’t know about the diagnosis until Walter Reed’s statement was released Tuesday. “So I’ll leave it as is.”
Ryder also declined to say whether Austin’s chief of staff, who has been identified as the person who failed to notify authorities of Austin’s hospitalization last week due to the flu, knew about Austin’s condition.
Ryder did not say whether the secretary’s travel would be affected by her surgery or complications, but said Austin was “actively engaged in her duties” and was in regular contact with staff. He said he was taking it.
Dr. Benjamin Davis, a urologic oncologist and professor of urology at the University of Pittsburgh, said whether the procedure is considered elective or more urgent is a matter of how quickly it needs to be performed. told CNN. He said there may have been other treatments, such as radiation.
He said this could have been characterized as “mandatory”, meaning the procedure needed to take place within three months, but it was not an emergency.
Davis said the complications experienced by the chief are extremely rare, with “less than a 1% chance of occurring.”
According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men after lung cancer. Although it can be serious, most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it, and mortality rates have declined sharply over the past few decades.
“Nothing is more important to us than the trust of the American people,” Ryder said Tuesday.
“[W]“We recognize that trust must be earned, so we will work every day to ensure that we earn and, more importantly, deserve that trust,” he said. said.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
