Napolitano hospitalized over cancer care side effect
Former DHS chief treated for disease for five months
SAN FRANCISCO — University of California President Janet Napolitano, a former U.S. Homeland Security secretary and governor of Arizona, has been undergoing cancer treatment for five months and was hospitalized after suffering complications, the school system revealed Tuesday.
The UC Office of the President said Napolitano, 59, was diagnosed last August but did not say what type of cancer she has or respond to inquiries seeking further details. Her condition had not previously been made public and emerged after a side effect from treatment sent her to the hospital Monday.
Her office said Napolitano has performed her duties at full capacity and is expected to be discharged in the next day or so. The president of the 10-campus system has kept the chairwoman of the UC Board of Regents informed throughout her treatment, which is nearly complete, the university said.
The rest of the board learned of Napolitano’s diagnosis in a phone call Tuesday, followed by an email from chairwoman Monica Lozano.
“As you no doubt have observed, Janet has been able to consistently perform her wide range of duties and extensive travel at full capacity,” Lozano wrote. “Yesterday, however, she experienced side effects from her treatment that required her to be briefly hospitalized.”
Napolitano grew up in Albuquerque and her father, Leonard Napolitano, was the UNM School of Medicine’s longest-serving dean.
A spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown, Evan Westrup, said Brown’s office was contacted “ahead of time” about her illness but did not respond to a request for more specifics.
Napolitano is entitled to privacy about her medical condition as long as she can reasonably perform her duties, said George Annas, director of the Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights at Boston University School of Public Health.
“This is both because medical privacy should be presumed for everyone, and it permits people to consider treatment options without having to consider how the public will react to each treatment decision and the effects of the treatment on the person,” he said in an email.
Napolitano, who previously was treated successfully for breast cancer, was a twoterm governor of Arizona, serving from 2003 to 2009, before leaving to join President Barack Obama’s Cabinet. She was secretary of the Department of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2013.
Before that, she served as Arizona’s attorney general from 1998 to 2003 and as the U.S. attorney for Arizona from 1993 to 1997.
Regent Norman J. Pattiz, who had cancer, said he had no idea Napolitano was sick and that he supported her decision to keep her cancer diagnosis and treatment out of the public light.