Austin is working again
US Secretary of Defense released from hospital
February 14, 2024, 3:50 a.m
US Defense Secretary Austin’s health problems are not yet over: At the weekend he was hospitalized due to complications from his prostate disease and had to go to the intensive care unit. Now he can return home.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been released from hospital after being treated again. The Pentagon said Austin returned home from the clinic in the afternoon and would initially work from there. He is expected back at the ministry later in the week. Austin has already fully taken over all tasks and duties again.
The politician, who was suffering from prostate cancer, was admitted to hospital on Sunday with an acute bladder problem and was transferred to the intensive care unit after a series of tests and examinations. He was treated under general anesthesia. He temporarily handed over his official duties to his deputy Kathleen Hicks. Because of the complications, Austin also had to cancel his participation in important meetings on Ukraine and NATO in Brussels. A meeting of the international contact group to coordinate arms aid to Ukraine is to take place virtually. Austin will attend if he is able, the Pentagon says. At tomorrow’s NATO defense ministers’ meeting, he will be represented by the US ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith.
The attending physician at Walter Reed Military Hospital near Washington said the prognosis for Austin’s prostate cancer remains excellent. The recent bladder problems would have no impact on this. The 70-year-old defense minister made his illness public in mid-January, but came under criticism because he initially kept both the diagnosis and a hospital stay as a result of complications from an operation secret. Even US President Joe Biden did not know for several days that his defense minister was in the hospital.
Austin apologized for the lack of transparency. When asked whether the President had concerns that Austin would no longer be able to carry out his duties due to his health problems, White House Communications Director John Kirby recently replied: “Not at all.”