Lloyd Austin hospitalised for infection after prostate cancer surgery
Al Jazeera
Disclosure comes as Pentagon faces public backlash over its secrecy about US defense secretary’s hospitalisation.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalised since January 1 with a urinary tract infection after a December surgical procedure to treat prostate cancer, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center says.
The disclosure on Tuesday came after nearly a week of public backlash directed at the Pentagon over its secrecy about the hospitalisation with President Joe Biden and Austin’s own deputy kept in the dark for days.
Once the Pentagon did disclose on Friday that Austin was in the hospital, it declined to say why he was there or offer details about his medical prognosis.
The 70-year-old was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on December 22 and underwent surgery to treat the cancer, doctors said. Austin later developed the infection and was rehospitalised.
Senior White House and defence officials were not told for days about his hospitalisation or the cancer.
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