An unexpected incident occurred on Thursday during President Donald Trump’s event focused on drug pricing when an attendee suddenly collapsed.
The individual, whose identity remains undisclosed by the White House, fainted just a short distance from the President, who was seated at the iconic Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
The health emergency prompted an immediate pause in the proceedings, with White House aides swiftly instructing reporters to vacate the room.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, serving as Trump’s Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, promptly intervened. He assisted the man to the ground and provided initial medical care.
According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the attendee quickly recovered and was reported to be in good condition shortly after the incident.
“During the Most Favored Nations Oval Office Announcement, a representative from one of the companies fainted. The White House Medical Unit immediately responded, and the gentleman is now okay. The press conference will resume shortly,” Leavitt stated.
When the press conference resumed, the president acknowledged the incident.
‘One of the representatives of the companies, one of the companies, got a little bit light-headed. You saw he went down. And he’s fine. They just sent him out, he’s got doctor’s care, but he’s fine,’ Trump said. ‘So we had a little bit of an interruption, sorry about that.’
President Donald Trump (left) stands by after a drug company executive fainted in the Oval Office on Thursday
The drug executive (second from left) is captured as he’s starting to faint in the Oval Office Thursday in the middle of President Donald Trump’s announcement on drug pricing
Dr. Mehmet Oz and others help a drug company executive who passed out during an event in the Oval Office where President Donald Trump was announcing drug price reductions
Trump was announcing that he was tackling the price of the ‘fat drug.’
Attendees included executives from Novo Nordisk, which makes the popular weight loss shot Ozempic, and Eli Lilly, the maker of Zepbound.
The White House announced that the deal would allow some weight loss pills to be available for just $149 a month.
Medicare enrollees will also have more access to the drugs.
In return, drug makers will get a break on Trump’s tariffs on imported pharmaceutical products.
Trump lauded the weight loss drugs, saying that they don’t have the same list of side effects as lots of other prescriptions on the market.
‘So far, I’ve never heard anything bad about them,’ Trump said at the top of his remarks. ‘Is there anything bad about them?’ he asked his Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was standing nearby.
The president then went around introducing members of the Cabinet and staff.
A drug company executive (fourth from left) passed out at President Donald Trump’s Oval Office event on Thursday
A White House aide (left) and a member of the Secret Service (center) usher members of the media out of the Oval Office after a man collapsed in the Oval Office on Thursday
He asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick if he was taking Ozempic.
‘Not yet,’ Lutnick replied.
Trump then outed one of his communications aides for taking weight loss medication.
Kennedy said the drugs, known as GLP-1s, will allow the American public to lose ‘125 million pounds by this time next year.’
‘It is going to have dramatic effects on human health in his country,’ the HHS secretary added.
