walter reed, national military medical center, with convocations from the december 22 procedure on januar. the decision was made to transfer him to the icu for close monitoring. explain the complications and why he landed in the icu, dr dr. makary. first of all, the fact that he s in the icu may simply reflect that he is a vip, it might not actually represent the severity of the level of the intensity of the complication. we see that all the time. what we do know is that he had a fluid collection that is, fluid build up in his abdomen. it s unclear why, and we also know he had a urinary tract infection, a known complication after a minimally invasive removal, which is what he had done. it s often done with a robot. the prognosis is very good. these are very common procedures in the united states. i would say roughly 60% of prostate cancer in general, we choose not to operate on. we just watch it and follow it.
prognosis from what we re hearing from his doctors. you ve got to set aside the prostate cancer issue from the movement of authorities now to deal with his central role. in a white house that cares a lot about process, and in a military where it is absolutely critical that you understand who has command of decisions, weaponry, at various moments, this is a pretty astounding story. it was astounding that he was under full anesthetic from the account of his doctor in the initial operation on december 22, and if the pentagon moved authorities to his deputy, they have not yet said so. and he is not a civilian or political leader of the defense department. he was a former general in the military. that chain of command is so engrained in them. do you feel like this peters out
on december 22, austin had an elective medical procedure while on leave, returning home the next day. the secretary was admitted to the intensive care unit at walter reed medical center on new year s day after experiencing severe pain . on january 2, austin transferred his authority to deputy defence secretary kathleen hicks, but it would not be until three days after his hospitalisation that the defence department officially notified hicks and the white house national security council of austin s hospitalisation. four days after austin s visit, the pentagon notified congress and the public. 0njanuary 6, austin released a statement taking full responsibility for the delay, saying he could have done a betterjob of informing the public. president biden is not considering firing the defense secretary according to reporting by the bbc s us partner, cbs. nebraska congressman don bacon told the bbc why he believes the top us defence official failing to communicate a serious hospital stay
around the world and certainly the kind of guidance the us administration is giving is solid on the law to make sure that every attack, everything that occurs is consistent with the law, but also to look at the political and human repercussions, which go outside the law but can affect the possibility of ever having a lasting peace in this region. we will have to leave it there. thank you so much for joining us on bbc news. us defense secretary lloyd austin was still in the hospital monday, a week after he was admitted to intensive care for an undisclosed illness. the pentagon says he has returned to full duties. however, the secrecy of austin s hospital stay has raised concerns about transparency problems from the nation s top security establishment. here s what we know so far. on december 22, austin had an elective medical procedure while on leave, returning home the next day.
this is cnn breaking news. let s get to the breaking news. doctors for defense secretary lloyd austin revealing complications from prostate cancer surgery were the cause of his undisclosed hospitalization last week. cnn is covering the story from every angle over at the pentagon and at the white house where our senior white house correspondent mj lee is standing by. let s go to our national security reporter, natosha. what is the pentagon saying? reporter: after days of uncertainty with surrounding secretary austin s hospitalization last week and what prompted it, the pentagon did relate a statement from secretary austin s doctors just today at around 2:00 p.m. that revealed that secretary austin had undergone surgery for prostate cancer on december 22. that surgery is what led to those complications that resulted in austin being transported in an ambulance to