By admin 
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The presidency comes with certain perks: a taxpayer-funded plane, a lifetime pension, and a White House staff to service the commander in chief’s every need. But for Donald Trump, another benefit may be early access to what could be the world’s most effective weight loss medication. Today we’re breaking down the story that has everyone speculating.
Back up. What in the world are you talking about?
The medical news site STAT reported this morning that the Food and Drug Administration and the drugmaker Eli Lilly recently granted a 79-year-old man access to an experimental anti-obesity drug called retatrutide. (If you can pronounce that, you win a prize.) The anonymous man applied for retatrutide in April through the FDA’s “compassionate use” program, which lets seriously ill patients access treatments that are still in development. A top National Institutes of Health clinician made the request, which suggests the patient is politically well connected.
A politically connected man who was 79 in April? That … sounds a lot like the president.
It does! Trump, who just turned 80, fits the profile. He’s also obsessed with weight loss drugs—he regularly mentions knowing someone on “the fat shot”—and is sensitive about his own weight. The White House has denied that he’s the patient in question, and it could certainly be someone else: say, a member of Congress or a top official’s family member. Then again, the White House has also labeled Trump’s health “superhuman,” so take those denials for what they’re worth.
But why would Trump—or whoever this is—need retatrutide if other weight loss drugs are available?
Good question. Retatrutide is, according to Lilly’s data, just better. In a clinical trial, it helped obese patients shed much more of their body weight (28 percent, on average) than drugs currently on the market. Lilly also makes a similar drug called Zepbound, but it doesn’t work for everybody. According to STAT’s reporting, the mystery patient in question took Zepbound for a year without much success.
If it is Trump, what does this say about his health?
You aren’t wrong to wonder. Presidents have long tried to hide details about their health, and Trump is no exception. He keeps going to the doctor, has bruises on both hands, and brags about passing dementia tests. The mystery patient reportedly needs retatrutide to treat obesity, sleep apnea, and pulmonary hypertension—a potentially life-threatening condition Trump hasn’t admitted to having. So maybe he’s sicker than we know. Or maybe Trump, a habitual liar who claims he isn’t taking weight loss drugs, just demanded the latest and greatest whether he needs it or not. Drugmakers can reject compassionate use requests. But a company that wants special treatment from a president as transactional as ours might have nonmedical reasons to say yes.
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OK, thanks for the breakdown. But this story is salacious, and I can’t get enough. Got anything else for me?
You bet! My Slate colleague Luke Winkie went long on it, and you can read his piece here.
You’re through the news. Here are some great reads, listens, and watches for your evening.
Endless Summer is ending: Speaking of Luke, he went to what will almost certainly be one of the final concerts of the Beach Boys—or at least what’s left of them. Luke’s piece tells the story of Mike Love, 85, the last remaining member of one of the 20th century’s consummate pop acts, while also reflecting on nostalgia, bitterness, legacy, and mortality. I’ll remember it for a long time.
A brush with a serial killer: In 2021, Laura Creedle got a frightening phone call. Her brother was in the hospital after a purported psychotic break. Even worse, the hospital was preparing to release him to his fiancée. Except: Her brother didn’t have a fiancée. What he had instead was a close encounter with a woman who, years later, would be linked to several murders. The full (and harrowing) story is worth a read.
A great interview for your evening dog walk: Anna Konkle had a difficult childhood, one that she’s still untangling. She has channeled that into art, writing the evocative and hilarious tween comedy PEN15. She sat down with Death, Sex & Money host Anna Sale to discuss her life and her work.
How about that soccer tournament you won’t stop talking about? Is that still on? I’m thrilled you’re as excited about the World Cup as we are. Portugal thumped Uzbekistan today (highlights here), while the day’s marquee matchup between England and Ghana started at 4 Eastern. This evening we’ll also have Panama–Croatia at 7 and Congo–Colombia at 10.
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That’s it for us. Thanks for reading, and have a great night.