It was supposed to be a triumphant moment as top executives from pharmaceutical giants met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to announce new deals that would slash the cost of popular weight-loss drugs.
But talk of prices dropping to as little as $50 a month for millions of Americans was quickly overshadowed when a man suddenly collapsed to the floor in the middle of the televised White House briefing.
‘Gordon, you okay?’ said Dave Ricks, CEO of healthcare company Eli Lilly, when he noticed the man begin to fall just feet away from where the president was seated at the Resolute Desk.
Dr Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, then sprung into action and helped him down gently to the floor. Aides barked at reporters to leave and shut off their cameras.
Initially, it was widely reported that the man who fainted was a Novo Nordisk executive named Gordon Findlay – with his name and headshot were soon trending on social media sites.
But while Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, did have executives present at the event, it has since told the Daily Mail that the Gordon who fell was not the company’s Switzerland-based global brand director Gordon Findlay.
President Donald Trump turns around in his seat as a man collapses in the middle of a White House briefing event to announce cheaper weight-loss drug deals
Dr Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was among a group of attendees who sprang into action and helped the man to the floor
A spokesperson for Eli Lilly, maker of weight-loss drug Zepbound, has now confirmed the man was their guest.
They said he ‘became faint due to standing for a long time and the warmth of the room’ and received immediate medical attention.
CEO Ricks added in a press conference after the event: ‘Gordon was one of the Lilly guests at the White House today. He became faint, and if you’ve ever been in the Oval Office, you stand a long time, and it’s warm. Pleased to say that the White House medical staff did a great job and he’s doing great. So, nothing to be concerned about. Thanks for your concern.’
Despite this, many people on social media remain convinced that Gordon Findlay was the man who fell, with some sharing comparison photos of the two men and claiming they look similar.
But what is perhaps now sparking even more interest is whether the man who collapsed was taking weight-loss drugs himself, with many people speculating this this could have been part of the cause of his fainting episode.
Washington Post reporter Dan Diamond wrote in his Substack blog that he had confirmed the man who collapsed was in fact an Eli Lilly patient who had been invited to the White House to talk about his experience taking a GLP-1 drug.
But after confirming to the Daily Mail that the man was their guest, Eli Lilly did not respond to further requests for clarification on why the man was at the White House.
The White House did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
The man was initially incorrectly identified as an executive of Novo Nordisk, one of the pharmaceutical companies present at the event
A White House aide (left) and a member of the Secret Service (right) usher members of the media out of the Oval Office after the guest collapsed
But the possibility will no doubt add to growing concerns about alarming symptoms being reported by some weight-loss drug users.
GLP-1 drugs are synthetic versions of a natural hormone in the body that regulate blood sugar levels, and as a consequence, a person’s appetite.
Since the GLP-1 hormone stimulates the pancreas to release insulin, the medication was originally for people with type 2 diabetes.
But after they were found to influence the brain to reduce hunger, the FDA began allowing people who are not diabetic but struggle with obesity to get prescriptions.
This caused the weight-loss drug market to explode, with celebrities to ordinary Americans scrambling to get their hands on the ‘miracle’ jabs.
And the new Trump administration deal to cut prices for popular drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound will help make the medication affordable for millions more.
But these drugs are not without side effects, and at least one of them could explain why the man, Gordon, fell over.
Since GLP-1s influence blood sugar levels, they can give people hypoglycemia, which can lead to symptoms such as dizziness, weakness, sweating, confusion and fainting.
Nausea, vomiting and indigestion are also common side effects, experienced by as many as one in five patients.
Even more serious, though rare, potential risks include pancreatitis, medullary thyroid cancer, acute kidney injury and worsening of diabetes-related vision problems, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Experts have also warned that it is difficult to know what other side effects could later emerge as the drugs are still so new – with even Trump himself acknowledging this in the White House press conference.
‘Is there anything bad about them Bobby? I haven’t heard it anyway,’ the president said, addressing his health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
‘Someday maybe it’ll come out which… we’ll notify you immediately but so far I haven’t heard that.’
His typically offhand joke prompted somewhat nervous laughter from the healthcare executives behind him.
