The US military medical center has revealed the reason for Lloyd Austin’s absence
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was treated for prostate cancer in early December and hospitalized last week for complications from the procedure, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center revealed on Tuesday. The hospital stay was kept secret from both the White House and the American public for several days.
The Pentagon first mentioned Austin’s absence last Friday, telling reporters he had resumed his duties. Over the weekend, it emerged that the former general was still at Walter Reed, working remotely, and that he hadn’t informed President Joe Biden or the National Security Council of his absence.
A Pentagon spokesman described the cause of Austin’s hospitalization as complications from an “elective surgery,” which were not disclosed due to privacy concerns.
According to a statement posted by two Walter Reed officials, Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer during a screening early last month and went in for a “minimally invasive surgical procedure” called prostatectomy on December 22.
He was under general anesthesia but “recovered uneventfully” and went home the next morning, said the statement signed by Trauma Medical Director Dr. John Maddox and Dr. Gregory Chesnut from the Center for Prostate Disease Research.
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