White House Denies Trump Got Unapproved Obesity Drug
White House spokesperson Kush Desai denied the speculation after STAT reported one 79-year-old man got special access to Eli Lilly’s experimental obesity drug.
- On Tuesday, health news site STAT reported that an unidentified 79-year-old man secured 'compassionate use' access to Eli Lilly's experimental obesity drug retatrutide, prompting speculation the patient was President Donald Trump—a claim the White House aggressively denied.
- Retatrutide, a triple hormone receptor agonist currently in Phase 3 clinical trials, was requested through the Food and Drug Administration's 'compassionate use' program, which allows patients with serious, life-threatening conditions to access experimental treatments before FDA approval.
- A senior National Institutes of Health clinician requested the medication in April for a 79-year-old patient diagnosed with refractory obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and pulmonary hypertension; the request drew interest from top officials, suggesting the recipient was well-connected.
- White House spokesperson Kush Desai lashed out at STAT reporter Lizzy Lawrence on social media, calling the speculation 'baseless' and labeling Lawrence an 'unserious gossip columnist' while insisting 'this application was not for the President.'
- Bioethics experts and clinicians told STAT that individual compassionate use access for a weight-loss drug is highly unusual, raising questions about why an undisclosed person received special treatment when obesity affects millions of Americans without such alternatives.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Trump Linked to Mystery FDA Deal Granting Early Access to Powerful Weight-Loss Drug for Critical Patients
A single unnamed patient has found himself at the centre of a political and medical storm after gaining rare early access to one of the world's most anticipated obesity treatments. The controversy erupted when reports revealed that a 79-year-old man received Eli Lilly's experimental drug retatrutide through the US Food and Drug Administration's compassionate use programme, a pathway normally reserved for patients with serious or life-threatening…
El Universo
El ComercioThe White House denied this Tuesday that President Donald Trump had agreed to an unauthorized drug to lose weight from an American pharmaceutical company, as a health magazine would have pointed out.
White House bats down speculation that Trump got access to Eli Lilly obesity drug for ‘compassionate use’
White House officials on Tuesday shot down a report speculating that President Trump gained access to the retatrutide weight-loss drug under the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) “compassionate use program.” The retatrutide drug is manufactured by Eli Lilly and is not FDA approved, however, one person gained access to the prescription through a program that…
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