Rich man privilege

“Compassionate Use”

A “well connected” patient received unprecedented access to an experimental weight loss drug due to extreme health condition

Trump is documented to have received early access to treatments before, during his first term. Before it was ever approved for general use by Americans, he was given a pioneering antibody therapy to treat his Covid19 at the height of the Pandemic. After they and Barron had all had Covid in October 2020, Trump and Melania were quietly given the vaccine in January 2021, which was not revealed until after Trump left office.

Old Trump — rendered in Adobe Illustrator by the author

This past January 2026, Trump declared he’d never taken Ozempic or Wegovy. However… there is reporting of a 79-year old, “well connected” individual receiving access to receive retatrutide. The treatment is a highly anticipated and experimental treatment for patients with “severe health issues.” A senior clinician at the National Institutes of Health was reportedly given permission in April 2026 — when POTUS was still 79–years old — to allow “compassionate use” access “to treat refractory obesity with obstructive sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension, high blood pressure in the lungs, which can be life-threatening.”

Outtake from Newsweek

All of this comes after broad reporting of Trump’s three “annual checkups” since he returned to office 18 months prior. Specifically, it comes after his last “annual checkup” for which he saw a staggering twenty-two specialists.

Now… readers, I know what it’s like to see such an array of specialists — and, there’s nothing standard about it. My readers/followers will have read my detailing of a 2018 health crisis in which I nearly died from a pulmonary embolism, among other diagnoses. I saw a head-spinning rotation of specialists for every conceivable condition my symptoms might have indicated.

I came out of that experience with bruising on the backs of my hands precisely like the bruising on said appendages. And, I have had procedures every six months to a year since with similar bruising from infusions. Even with that, since 2018, I have had my quarterly diabetes checkups and my once per year annual checkups. That’s one annual checkup per year — and never saw any specialists — with just my primary care physician.

I’m not saying Trump’s bruising is from an infusion of retatrutide, which is recommended to be administered as a subcutaneous injection. However, I will say that, because the back of the hand doesn’t have the levels subcutaneous tissues of the abdomen or upper thigh, injecting it there would cause substantial bruising and “it increases the risk of hitting tendons, nerves, or blood vessels, which can cause pain, nerve damage, or poor absorption of the medication.”

Of course, he could be receiving any number of injections or infusions for a range of conditions endemic to unwell elderly people. For example, my Gran, who had a blood disorder called von Willibrand’s Disease, received regular infusions or injections in the back of her hand which always resulted in the type of bruising we see on Trump’s hands. When Grandpa Jack and Our Dawny were undergoing chemo therapy, they both received regular infusions which left their hands identically bruised.

There are also infusion treatments for Alzheimer’s. Additionally, retatrutide infusions/injections, like all such treatments may cause fatigue and/or sleepiness.

Queue the denial squad

So, reporting widely suspects Trump was the “well connected” recipient of this groundbreaking treatment. Queue the MAGA Denial Choir…

White House officials were all over the news cycle denying it before the public was even aware of reporting about it. In blatant opposition to the evidence before our eyes, TrumpCo maintains he’s in “excellent health.” We the People can see how unwell he is. All of has have elderly relatives and when they’re unwell, it’s obvious. Peepaw Trump is most definitely advanced in his elderliness and is very obviously extremely unwell.

Of course, all the reporting makes the caveat that the reporting is unconfirmed. And, I feel compelled to point out that Trump is heavily backing a move to make Medicare cover GLP-1 weight loss treatments. He’s even admitted to being open to using them himself. If he’s using the treatment, there would be little logical reason to deny it.

Of course, “logical” isn’t something we see a lot of out of this POTUS, his administration, or his cult-following. We all know he sees illness and disability as weakness. And, he cannot ever stand to let himself be seen as anything he views as weakness. Trump’s personal obsession with appearance is well documented too. He’s also made it abundantly clear that you deny him what he wants to your detriment.

How did it start?

Here are the facts, as best we can understand them. In April — as in, two months before the president’s 80th birthday — a clinician at the National Institutes of Health submitted an unusual “compassionate use” request to the Food and Drug Administration on behalf of a 79-year-old man. The request was for retatrutide, and it stated that the patient experienced obstructive sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension — essentially high blood pressure in the lungs, which is no joke and can lead to heart failure. (Compassionate use is only invoked for people with serious or life-threatening conditions.) The FDA approved the appeal, and STAT asked the White House if the 79-year-old man in question was, in fact, Donald Trump. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services offered what amounted to a no-comment in response: “The FDA supports expanded access programs that can provide patients with serious or life-threatening conditions access to investigational treatments when no comparable or satisfying approved therapies are available,” it said. “Each request is reviewed on a case-by-case basis based on the clinical circumstances and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.” [Slate]

Where do we land

We don’t really know if the “compassionate use” patient is Donald Trump. Whomever it is obviously has rich man privilege and must be fairly desperate. The possible reasons for the unprecedented access to this single privileged individual would have been granted due to that person’s extreme health condition.

Retatrutide is looking like the new miracle drug, with Phase 2 patients losing nearly a third of their body weight. It’s looking so successful that it’s spawned a “chaotic black market” for the drug.

If Trump has pulmonary hypertension (PAH)— which is listed as a primary condition warranting retatrutide treatment — it is a life-threatening progressive disease; people do not get better from it, even if this treatment may slow progression. PAH is an extreme health condition. The disease causes blood pressure in the lungs and overworks and damages the heart. Symptoms include shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, dizziness, and swelling in the legs or abdomen.

PAH is basically an end of life diagnosis. Life expectancy widely varies according ti type and access to treatment. Retatrutide is yet to be proven as a therapy. However, current therapies improved outcomes, allowing many to live active lives. One-year survival rates with treatment increased survival expectancy to between 86%–90%, Long-term survival on average has risen from 2.8 to 6 years. [Pulmonary Hypertension News; a bionews community]

Transparency is a dirty word in Trump World. The goal has always been than we never know the truth. Then again… all of his Covid mishegoss came out after he left office. The truth is there. It’s all in the presidential records and the records of the various agencies who eased the way for “compassionate use” to the “well connected” patient.

“The truth is out there…”

And… “the truth will out.”

Further reading

[embed]Alzheimer’s: Medicines help manage symptoms and slow decline Although there’s no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, certain drugs might help you manage your symptoms and improve your…www.mayoclinic.org

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Author’s personal logo, created in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe

D. Denise Dianaty is an artist, art photographer, poet, writer-activist, and self-published author. Much of her poetry is autobiographical or writer-activist. She considers herself a writing activist for a just and equitable society.

“This America” — an op-ed publication