Breaking news: Deliberate cover-up of DoD Secretary's prostate cancer, Inspector General report reveals
Secretary Austin wanted to avoid a 'media circus' with his prostate cancer. He got one anyway.
By Howard Wolinsky
The Pentagon’s Inspector General’s report on the case of Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s efforts to keep his prostate cancer a secret from his boss President Biden, his staff and the public at large, finally has been released days before Austin and the rest of the Biden administration leaves office.
And the picture is even worse than it was portrayed last year.
The IG said Austin failed to tell Congress or the White House about his health problems as required.
[On Jan. 8, The Active Surveillor announced its selection of the Austin incident as the “PCa news story of 2024:]
PCa news story of 2024: Defense Sec.'s dual wars on terrorism and prostate cancer
(Editor’s note. I am finally saying good-bye to 2024. By Jan, 8 we are supposed to done. But one more thing: Prostate Story of 2024.
Associated Press summarized: “Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ‘s failure to inform Congress or the White House as required when he was incapacitated due to treatment for prostate cancer and later complications potentially raised ‘unnecessary’ security risks, the Pentagon’s watchdog concluded in a highly critical report,”
AP went on: “The inspector general’s report concluded there were no “adverse consequences” resulting from the poor communications about Austin’s condition a year ago. But it faulted Austin for keeping his hospitalization secret for days, even from President Joe Biden, and found that his strong desire for privacy likely influenced his staff in deciding not to prod further into his condition.”
The IG report recounted several instances in which Austin told his staff to keep his surgery and hospitalization for side effects (urinary tract infection) secret—though Austin claimed otherwise.
In several instances, the report stated that staffers said Austin told them to keep his hospitalization quiet. Austin claimed otherwise.
A member of Austin’s security staff said Austin stated, “We’re not notifying anybody,” so they kept the medical problems as “private as possible” and did not notify Austin’s chief of staff or others.
The report concluded that “Secretary Austin’s insistence on privacy regarding his medical condition was coupled with his desire to avoid publicity about his condition.” And it noted that in a Jan. 8 text message to his chief of staff, Austin wrote: “I don’t want my health to be a media circus.”
A Pentagon official told AP that DoD does not know why it took until the last week of the Biden administration for IG Robert Storch to release the report.
In a text messages to Austin’s junior aide, the chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, said, “I wish (Secretary Austin) were a normal person but he’s the (secretary of defense). We have a big institutional responsibility. He can’t just go totally dark on his staff. … Please pass to him that we can’t keep his hospitalization a secret forever. It’s kind of big deal for him to be in (the intensive care unit).”
Austin called in drone attacks and viewed them live in hospital room as he was recuperating at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
(In my article, I wonedred whether Austin was dressed in a Brooks Brothers suit or a shorty camo hospital gown while calling in strikes against the Houthis in the Red Sea.)
The IG said that no serious consequences resulted from how the hospitalizations were handled. However, “the risks to our national defense, including the command and control of the DoD’s critical national security operations, were increased unnecessarily.”
Austin did not inform either Congress or the White House of his initial treatment in December 2023 for prostate cancer or tell his staff or the White House of his complications on Jan. 1, 2024, when he was taken by ambulance to Walter Reed. Eventually, he was attacked in Congressional hearings and by Biden. Still, the former Army general held on to his job.
In a press. conference, Austin told told reporters that he never told his staff to keep his surgery and hospitalization secret from the White House, but acknowledged that he should have handled it differently and apologized for not informing Biden and others of his situation.
Austin transferred decision-making authorities to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks during his initial surgery and while he was in the ICU, the secretary did not tell her why and he also gave Biden the mushroom treatment (kept in the dark).
Austin was whisked off to Walter Reed on New Year’s Day 2023. The next day public affairs and defense aides were informed Austin was hospitalized. It was wasn’t until Jan. 4 that the National Security Council and the President were informed of what was happening.
One result of the Austin prostate cancer caper is the White House set down guidelines requiring cabinet members informed the president any time they couldn’t carry out their duties.
The conservative National Review reported: “A watchdog investigation into outgoing Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization in 2024 found that his secretive hospital stay resulted in heightened national security risk, in part because Austin took medication with the potential to impair cognitive function while still in sole command of the Pentagon.”
Can you help TheActiveSurveillor.com?
Did you find out your prostate cancer diagnosis in the portal BEFORE you spoke to your doctor? Did it upset you? Are you willing to share? Contact me at Howard.wolinsky@gmail.com I am thinking about writing a story and would appreciate your help.
ASPI seeking nominations for its 2025 awards program
Active Surveillance Patients International (ASPI) is inviting the surveillance community to submit ideas for its fourth 2025 awards program.
The awards program includes the Chodak Award honoring the late Dr. Gerry Chodak, ASPI’s first medical advisor and a University of Chicago researcher who encouraged the development of early conservative approaches to prostate cancer.
Winners have included such pioneers as Dr. Laurence Klotz, of the University of Toronto, Dr.Peter Albertsen, of the University of Connecticut, and Dr. Peter Carroll, of the University of California, San Francisco. All were early advocates and researchers of the protocol now known as Active Surveillance.
(For videos on all awards presentations, go to: https://aspatients.org/awards/)
Two other awards are now presented:
--The ASPI Special Awards to groups or individuals who have made major contributions to AS research. Winners have included Drs. Freddie Hamdy and Jenny Donovan, who were the principal investigators of the landmark ProtecT trial, which proved the safety and effectiveness of AS, and the Michigan Urological Surgery Improvement Collaborative (MUSIC) for its success in demonstrating how AS can be widely accepted in small or large practices in the community or academic urology practices, alike.
--The ASPI Patient Advocacy Award is named for ASPI co-founder Thrainn Thorvaldsson, the first recipient, and E. Michael Scott, founder of Prostate Cancer International, an early advocate for AS even though he doesn’t have prostate cancer.
“If you have names of folks who have fought the headwinds, and showed courage in furthering AS, please send them to us with your justification,” said Mark Lichty, ASPI chairman and co-founder.
Send your nominations to contactus@aspatients.org by Jan. 31, 2025.
MRI-invisible lesions: A good sign—like a Gleason 6?
By Howard Wolinsky
Did you know that it’s possible for prostate cancer can be confirmed by a pathologist but the lesion can be invisible in an MRI?
Is this a good thing? Many researchers think it is.
Dr. Mark Emberton, Professor of interventional oncology at University College London and Dean of its Faculty of Medical Sciences, will be speaking to the ASPI webinar about MRI-invisible lesions on Saturday, January 25, 2025, from noon – 1:30 p.m. Eastern (5:00pm-6:30pm UK time). Emberton is a pioneer on the use of MRIs in diagnosing, classifying and monitoring prostate cancer.
Don’t be invisible. Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYldu-qqzojGNEzCkgPQuTOWYGhcL80Dhec'
MRI-invisible lesions are considered a good thing comparable to Gleason 6.
Professor Emberton’s clinical research is aimed at improving the diagnostic and risk stratification tools and treatment strategies for prostate cancer (PCa). He specializes in the implementation of new imaging techniques, nanotechnologies, bio-engineering materials and non-invasive treatment approaches, such as high intensity focused ultrasound and photo-dynamic therapy.
His research has been published in over 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers in journals including BMJ, Lancet Oncology and European Urology. He has also contributed to the development of guidelines for the management of PCa and lower urinary tract symptoms, published by the International Society of Geriatric Oncology and the European Association of Urology.
If you have questions, please send them to: contactus@aspatients.org