WASHINGTON: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized again, a Pentagon spokesman said on Sunday.
He said the Pentagon chief was hospitalized for an emergent bladder issue weeks after his previous hospitalization was kept secret.
Austin disappeared from the public in late December and again in early January after suffering complications from treatment for a prostate cancer on December 22.
Initially he concealed his diagnosis and treatment from President Joe Biden and the rest of the government officials.
Defense Department press secretary Pat Ryder in a statement said that military, White House and congressional officials had all been notified about Austin’s hospitalization.
He said Austin has been admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to be seen for symptoms suggesting an emergent bladder issue.
Ryder said Austin would be performing his official duties while hospitalized.
Earlier, Austin apologized for keeping the previous hospital stays secret, following a heavy political criticism.
“I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis,” he told journalists on February 1.
He said he was still in recovery process and suffering from leg pain and using a golf cart for moving inside the Pentagon.
His earlier absence as well as the current hospitalization come at a time when the United States faces a crisis in the Middle East, with American forces in Iraq and Syria facing almost daily attacks from groups in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel.
The top US defense official is also a significant figure in attempts by the Biden administration to keep support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, as Republican members of Congress refused to allow new aid for military to Kyiv.