Speculation Mounts Over Trump as Sole Recipient of Experimental Obesity Drug
A barebones public notice for Eli Lilly’s retatrutide has sparked questions about the identity of the recipient, with the White House and Health Department declining to confirm or deny if President Donald Trump is the patient.
A single 79-year-old patient has been granted early access to Eli Lilly’s experimental obesity drug, retatrutide, through the Food and Drug Administration’s compassionate use programme, sparking speculation that the recipient is President Donald Trump. The request, filed in April by National Institutes of Health clinician Ranganath Muniyappa, cites refractory obesity, obstructive sleep apnoea, and pulmonary hypertension. The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services declined to confirm or deny if the President is the patient.
The case is considered highly unusual due to the patient’s age, the lack of a life-threatening condition, and the omission of standard details in the public notice. Retatrutide is a next-generation obesity drug targeting GIP, glucagon, and GLP-1 hormones, currently in late-stage trials. Phase 3 trial data released in May showed patients with obesity lost 28% of their body weight over 80 weeks, a result comparable to bariatric surgery.
The public notice for the expanded access case is described as “barebones” and omits standard qualifying conditions, making it difficult for the public to identify the purpose of the drug. Richard Klein, who helped launch the FDA’s expanded access programme in the 1980s, stated the listing is “very wrong” because it lacks information that would allow the public to understand what the drug is for.
Over a dozen experts told Stat News that granting expanded access to a single patient for common conditions, rather than a cohort, is highly unusual. The patient had previously spent a year on tirzepatide with only moderate weight loss and was not recommended for bariatric surgery due to age and comorbidities.
Stat News asked if Trump has obstructive sleep apnoea and pulmonary hypertension; these conditions were not included in the memo of his most recent medical evaluation. Eli Lilly and the NIH clinician did not directly answer questions regarding the patient’s identity or the clinical rationale.
