Story perspectives

House Calls STAT Probe Idiotic; Trump Not Eli Lilly Patient

6/24/2026

Summary

Story summary

House officials called the STAT inquiry “idiotic” and denied any link to President Donald Trump.
Administration said President Donald Trump was not the patient in the compassionate-use request for Eli Lilly’s drug retatrutide.
A National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinician asked the FDA for retatrutide to treat a 79-year-old man with sleep apnea and hypertension.
President Trump said he has not taken GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic but should.

History

Historical Context

In the late 1980s ACT-UP protests, including an October 11 1988 demonstration that led to about 180 arrests, pressured the FDA to speed AIDS drug approvals. The agency responded with the treatment-IND and parallel-track rules, enabling AZT’s accelerated approval on March 20 1987 after a 25-month review. Those precedents now shape NIH’s request for Eli Lilly’s retatrutide, echoing earlier compassionate-use debates.

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Story summary

House officials called the STAT inquiry “idiotic” and denied any link to President Donald Trump.
Administration said President Donald Trump was not the patient in the compassionate-use request for Eli Lilly’s drug retatrutide.
A National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinician asked the FDA for retatrutide to treat a 79-year-old man with sleep apnea and hypertension.
President Trump said he has not taken GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic but should.

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