There’s only one person in the country the FDA has granted access to retatrutide on a “compassionate use” basis: a man who was 79 at the time of his application in April, whose application was personally overseen by a senior doctor at the National Institutes of Health and subsequently approved by the FDA.
Three anonymous sources flagged the highly unusual approval to Stat News, a biotech and medical industry publication, who described the applicant as well connected.
The experimental drug is administered via an injection once a week. Manufacturer Eli Lilly is considering it as a treatment for obesity, Type 2 diabetes, knee osteoarthritis pain, moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, chronic low back pain, cardiovascular and renal outcomes, and chronic liver disease.
Per Stat, the patient in question sought the drug for refractory obesity with obstructive sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension.
President Donald Trump recently turned 80, has expressed an interest in weight-loss drugs and is reportedly being seen by 22 medical specialists.
Anecdotally, he’s also been spotted falling asleep in the Oval Office and during Cabinet meetings, which would appear consistent with sleep apnea — a condition that may cause daytime sleepiness and other symptoms.
Trump’s also had three “annual” physical exams in the span of 13 months, including an MRI during a hastily announced visit to Walter Reed last October ― but he couldn’t say why.
Asked for comment on the possibility Trump pulled strings to gain access to an unapproved drug, White House deputy press secretary Desai Kush pointed to a social media comment calling Stat News reporter Lizzy Lawrence “an unserious gossip columnist.”
“This application was not for the President,” Kush said.
Despite that denial, Trump has a history of seeking out rare medical treatments for both himself and his allies.
Trump was approved for experimental use of Regeneron after he contracted COVID-19 during his first term ― also as a “compassionate use case.”
Compassionate use is typically reserved for individuals “with serious or life-threatening conditions, who have exhausted all available medical options and do not qualify for clinical trials,” according to Lilly.
Trump also pulled strings to get “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams access to a newly approved drug to treat aggressive prostate cancer, and ordered up some sort of exceedingly rare heart surgery for Rep. Mike Dunn (R-Fla.) after a terminal diagnosis.
