Secretary Austin’s Strange Health Secrecy

null By The Editorial BoardJan. 9, 2024 6:35 pm ETJournal Editorial Report: The week's best and worst from Kim Strassel, Bill McGurn and Dan Henninger. Images: AP/Zuma Press Composite: Mark KellyWe’ve hesitated to pile on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for his failure to tell the White House about an illness that required hospitalization. But the news Tuesday that he was treated for an infection after surgery for prostate cancer makes the silence more serious.Mr. Austin’s doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center disclosed the news after days of what had become a medical and political mystery. Why in the world wouldn’t the secretary of defense, one of the top officials in government during a time of global unrest, let his boss and his deputy know he was in the intensive care unit at a hospital? What was he afraid of disclosing?Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8Sponsored OffersTurboTax: Up to 10% off online tax

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Opinion Jan 10, 2024 Add to Reading List

Secretary Austin’s Strange Health Secrecy

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The Editorial Board

Jan. 9, 2024 6:35 pm ET

Journal Editorial Report: The week's best and worst from Kim Strassel, Bill McGurn and Dan Henninger. Images: AP/Zuma Press Composite: Mark Kelly

We’ve hesitated to pile on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for his failure to tell the White House about an illness that required hospitalization. But the news Tuesday that he was treated for an infection after surgery for prostate cancer makes the silence more serious.

Mr. Austin’s doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center disclosed the news after days of what had become a medical and political mystery. Why in the world wouldn’t the secretary of defense, one of the top officials in government during a time of global unrest, let his boss and his deputy know he was in the intensive care unit at a hospital? What was he afraid of disclosing?