CNN
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A statement from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Tuesday revealed after days of uncertainty that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been treated at the hospital in December for prostate cancer and later readmitted due to complications.
The revelation came days after the Pentagon announced that Austin had been in the hospital since New Year’s Day – a surprise announcement late Friday that shocked both the Pentagon press corps and the national security establishment.
CNN’s reporting, the statement provided by doctors at Walter Reed and further disclosures from the Pentagon have shed some light on the circumstances around the secretary’s hospitalization — and why it took so long for senior officials to be informed.
On December 22, Austin “underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure called a prostatectomy to treat and cure prostate cancer” that been discovered in “early December,” according to a Tuesday statement from Dr. John Maddox, trauma medical director, and Dr. Gregory Chesnut, Center for Prostate Disease Research of the Murtha Cancer Center Director, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Austin “was under general anesthesia during this procedure” and he “recovered uneventfully from his surgery and returned home the next morning,” according to the statement. The doctors said that Austin’s “prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent.”
It was previously unclear whether Austin had been under anesthesia during the procedure or what he was being treated for. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said over the weekend that Austin went into the hospital for an elective procedure on December 22 when he was on leave, went home the following day and “continued to work from home through the holidays.” The secretary, Ryder said, began experiencing “severe pain” and was transported from his home to Walter Reed by an ambulance on January 1, where he was admitted to the intensive care unit.
According to the doctors’ statement, Austin was readmitted to the hospital on January 1 with complications from the procedure, “including nausea with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain,” and was found to have a urinary tract infection.
The next day, according to the statement, “the decision was made to transfer him to the ICU for close monitoring and a higher level of care. Further evaluation revealed abdominal fluid collections impairing the function of his small intestines.” A tube was placed through Austin’s nose to drain his stomach, and the abdominal fluid collections were drained by non-surgical drain placement.
On January 2, according to Ryder, Austin delegated some authorities to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks “on the basis of medical advice.” The same day, Austin’s chief of staff Kelly Magsamen, senior military assistant Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown were notified of Austin’s hospitalization.
On January 4, Magsamen informed Hicks and national security adviser Jake Sullivan of Austin’s hospitalization. The same day, Magsamen and Hicks began drafting a public statement and congressional notifications.
It took roughly a day to release those notifications and a statement, Ryder said, because they were working to ensure they “had the facts, to make sure it was coordinated.” Ultimately, the statement was released at roughly 5 p.m. ET on Friday, and Austin was not among those who signed off on it. Congress was notified shortly before.
According to the Walter Reed doctors, Austin “has progressed steadily throughout his stay.”
“His infection has cleared. He continues to make progress and we anticipate a full recovery although this can be a slow process,” they said. “During this stay, Secretary Austin never lost consciousness and never underwent general anesthesia,” they said in the Tuesday statement.
Austin has resumed his duties.
Ryder, in response to a question from CNN on Monday, said the Pentagon did not inform the White House that Austin was having the procedure.
The Pentagon spokesman was also unable to say at that time whether Austin had been unconscious at any time between his arrival at Walter Reed on January 1 and his delegation of authorities to Hicks. But he emphasized that at “no time was national security in jeopardy,” and that as he understood it, Austin was “capable of executing his duties as the Secretary of Defense.”
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Read More: Lloyd Austin: What we know about defense secretary’s hospitalization