Chaos ensued at a White House event on Thursday after a pharmaceutical executive collapsed in the Oval Office during a press conference on a new obesity drug deal. The incident took place shortly after US President Donald Trump announced new price cuts for weight-loss drugs.
A video shows the man, later identified as Novo Nordisk executive Gordon Findlay, losing his balance and falling. Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks was addressing the media when Findlay passed out, leading to a brief disruption.
The President stood as Dr Mehmet Oz, who now heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, rushed forward to assist Findlay. He prevented Findlay from falling to the ground.
“Are you ok? Gordon, you ok?” asked Eli Lilly CEO Ricks as the man began to fall over.
“Press out!” officials were soon heard shouting while Trump rose from his seat during the incident.
A video of the incident has also gone viral on social media, showing the events until the livestream was abruptly halted.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US Health and Human Services Secretary, was also present in the room when the incident took place.
About 30 minutes later, the press conference resumed. There, Trump was heard giving an update on Findlay’s health.
“One of the representatives of the companies got a little bit lightheaded," he was quoted as saying by Fox News.
"We saw he went down, and he's fine. They just sent him out, and he's got doctors here. But he's fine,” the US President added, continuing the announcement on drug price cuts.
The announcement came as Trump shared details of a new deal with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. The agreement aims to slash prices for popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs under Medicare and Medicaid and cash-paying patients.
Following the deal, prices of these drugs will drop to an average of $149 to $350 per month, far below the current $500 to $1,000 range, Reuters reported. Trump called the initiative a major step towards lowering healthcare costs.
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