Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

LetMyPeopleVote

(183,817 posts)
Tue Jun 23, 2026, 09:00 PM 6 hrs ago

MS NOW- White House denies Trump applied for 'compassionate use' for weight loss drug

An unnamed 79-year-old man was reportedly granted special access to the drug retatrutide through a “compassionate use” program.

White House denies Trump applied for ‘compassionate use’ for weight loss drug.

An unnamed 79-year-old man was reportedly granted special access to the drug retatrutide through a “compassionate use” program.

www.ms.now/news/white-h...

TheBlackPage (Woke, DEI forever against fascism) (@theblackpage.bsky.social) 2026-06-23T23:21:33.054Z

https://www.ms.now/news/white-house-trump-weight-loss-drug

The White House on Tuesday denied that President Donald Trump applied for access to an experimental obesity drug not yet on the market after Stat News reported that a 79-year-old man was approved to take it.

The health and science news outlet Stat News reported that the Food and Drug Administration and drug manufacturer Eli Lilly allowed one person — a 79-year-old man — special access to the drug retatrutide through a “compassionate use” program, citing three sources familiar with the matter. Those sources, Stat News reported, requested anonymity due to fear of reprisals.

According to the FDA, compassionate use is a “pathway for a patient with a serious or immediately life-threatening disease or condition to gain access to an investigational medical product (drug, biologic, or medical device) for treatment outside of clinical trials when no comparable or satisfactory alternative therapy options are available.”....

But on Tuesday, hours after the Stat News report was published, White House spokesman Kush Desai said on X that the “application was not for the President.” He went on to publicly bash the report’s author, Lizzy Lawrence, accusing her of being an “unserious gossip columnist.”

Lawrence responded on X that she had asked Desai, the FDA and HHS “multiple times” on Monday whether the application was for Trump. “No one answered my question directly,” she wrote. Desai called the report “baseless speculation” in a follow-up post.

The patient who received this drug "suffered from refractory obesity with obstructive sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension."
National Institutes of Health Senior Clinician Ranganath Muniyappa requested the drug to treat the patient, who suffered from refractory obesity with obstructive sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension, Stat News reported. Muniyappa, who did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment, reportedly recommended against bariatric surgery because of the patient’s age and medical conditions.

The patient also took tirzepatide, an FDA-approved obesity drug by Lilly, for one year, “but experienced only moderate weight loss,” Stat News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

trump has not lost any significant weight over the last year and so that does NOT rule trump out. I have obstructive sleep apnea and have been using a CPAP for a very long time. I seriously doubt that trump is capable of using a CPAP machine correctly and consistently which could account for trump's strange hours and trump falling asleep in meetings.
5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
MS NOW- White House denies Trump applied for 'compassionate use' for weight loss drug (Original Post) LetMyPeopleVote 6 hrs ago OP
There are sooooo many such drugs, though buzzycrumbhunger 5 hrs ago #1
And who could doubt what the Trump White House says? Jim__ 5 hrs ago #2
Saw mention of this drug recently canetoad 4 hrs ago #3
Maybe it'll make him human? spanone 3 hrs ago #4
Lab rat GenThePerservering 1 hr ago #5

buzzycrumbhunger

(2,381 posts)
1. There are sooooo many such drugs, though
Tue Jun 23, 2026, 09:32 PM
5 hrs ago

...almost all of which are being prescribed like candy--Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, etc.

As a pharmacy tech, I was mortified because one of the biggest possible side effects is thyroid cancer, amongst others.

I've also seen patients balloon right back up after losing weight precipitously after stopping, and that makes it even more sketchy.

But yeah--Shitler getting special dispensation because he can't muster dietary changes (gah--all that McDonalds shit!) is on brand for him. Let's hope this "experimental" drug has a whopper of a side effect--as in sudden death. I'm getting sick of waiting. 🙄

canetoad

(21,206 posts)
3. Saw mention of this drug recently
Tue Jun 23, 2026, 10:56 PM
4 hrs ago
https://www.health.vic.gov.au/health-alerts/toxicity-linked-to-unapproved-peptide-retatrutide
The department has been notified of six cases of acute liver toxicity associated with an unapproved peptide product in Australia, labelled Retatrutide.

These toxic effects are possibly associated with a contaminant in the products labelled as ‘Retatrutide’ and all such products are at risk.


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-20/liver-failure-fake-retatrutide-health-risk/106814372
Senior doctors at a Melbourne hospital are warning people not to take counterfeit weight-loss drugs labelled as "retatrutide" after seeing multiple cases of life-threatening illness.

Among them is a woman who found herself in acute liver failure within a week of her second dose of the drug, who has ongoing health issues six months later.Warning issued over counterfeit weight-loss drugs labelled as retatrutide
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»MS NOW- White House denie...