US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, whose secret hospitalisation since New Year’s Day sparked backlash, is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, the Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday. Austin’s doctors revealed that he was admitted to Walter Reed Military Medical Center for prostate cancer, something that President Joe Biden, the White House, Congress and the public were unaware of for much of last week.

“Secretary Austin recovered uneventfully from his surgery and returned home the next morning. His prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent,” said Dr John Maddox, director of trauma medical, and Dr Gregory Chesnut, director of the Center for Prostate Disease Research of the Murtha Cancer Center.

Austin suffered complications including nausea, along with abdominal, hip and leg pain. In response to those complications, the 70-year-old Austin underwent additional treatment at Walter Reed, and he remains there recovering from those additional procedures, according to the Pentagon’s statement.

Apart from the White House and the US Congress, even Austin’s own deputy Kathleen Hicks was kept in the dark for days, even when she was told to assume some of his duties on January 2 while she and her family were on vacation in Puerto Rico. The secret hospitalisation sparked a furious political backlash in the US.

Biden came to know about the diagnosis on Tuesday

The White House said that the US President was not informed about Austin’s prostate cancer till Tuesday. “He (Biden) was not informed until last (Thursday) that Secretary Austin was in the hospital. He was not informed until this morning that the root cause of that hospitalization was prostate cancer,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said.

“Nobody at the White House knew that Secretary Austin had prostate cancer until this morning, and the president was informed immediately after,” added Kirby. What is more interesting that Austin and Biden spoke on Thursday in what appeared to be their first interaction since his hospitalisation. Even then, Biden was unaware of his defence secretary’s condition.

Republicans seized on the incident as evidence of dereliction of duty by Austin, a retired four-star general who led forces in Iraq and is America’s first Black defense secretary. The Republican who leads the House Armed Services Committee launched a formal inquiry.

“With wars in Ukraine and Israel, the idea that the White House and even your own Deputy did not understand the nature of your condition is patently unacceptable,” Representative Mike Rogers wrote in a letter to Austin on Tuesday.

What did the Pentagon say?

The Pentagon in its statement noted that it failed to properly notify appropriate parties, including President Joe Biden, about the secretary’s condition. Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said the department is now looking into that breakdown in communications so that it will not happen again.

“The department recognises the understandable concerns expressed by the public, Congress and the news media in terms of notification timelines and DOD transparency. I want to underscore again that Secretary Austin has taken responsibility for the issues with transparency and the department is taking immediate steps to improve our notification procedures,” said Austin.

Austin himself said he takes “full responsibility” for his decisions about disclosure. “I want to thank the amazing doctors and nursing staff at Walter Reed for the exceptional care they have delivered to me and for the personal warmth they have shown my family… I also understand the media concerns about transparency and I recognise I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better.  But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure,” he said in an earlier statement.

Austin’s prostate cancer treatment on December 22 required Austin go under general anesthesia, but he has retained consciousness during his latest visit, according to a statement from Walter Reed. “His infection has cleared. He continues to make progress and we anticipate a full recovery, although this can be a slow process,” said the hospital.

The Pentagon initially said Austin’s December treatment was for an elective medical procedure. It was not clear how prostate cancer treatment would be considered elective. Some prominent Republicans, including Donald Trump, called for Austin to be removed from his job.

As the Secretary of Defence, Austin’s duties require him to be available at a moment’s notice, something that would be difficult from an ICU bed. The Department of Defence waited three days to inform the White House that Austin was hospitalised in ICU. The US Congress was only informed on Friday, shortly before the Pentagon published its public statement. 

Several lawmakers said that the communication breakdown raises serious questions about Pentagon leadership. A joint statement from the top Democrat and Republican lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee called for the Pentagon to be transparent about Austin’s health “and the decision-making process that occurred in the past week.”

(with inputs from Reuters)

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