A drug executive fainted in the Oval Office on Thursday as President Donald Trump announced a new deal with pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of obesity drugs.
Dr. Mehmet Oz., a heart surgeon and former TV personality who is now the director of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service, rushed over to catch the man before he hit the floor.
The man's knees started to buckle during remarks from Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks, who turned and said, "Are you OK? Gordon, are you OK?"
Trump stood up from the Resolute Desk and watched quietly as the man was tended to, and the press was shooed out of the room.
🚨BREAKING: A pharmaceutical representative collapses during President Trump’s Oval Office announcement, as reporters are swiftly escorted out of the room. pic.twitter.com/RskICBEcJC
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 6, 2025
The medical event paused Trump's press conference for about thirty minutes. Later, the press was brought back into the room, and the president offered a comment.
"One of the representatives of the companies, of one of these companies, got a little bit lightheaded," he told the press. "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 identity of the man who fell ill during the event was not immediately clear.
Getty Images identified him as Gordon Findlay, the global brand director for Novo Nordisk, but the company said he wasn't among the drug executives present. Eli Lilly ultimately confirmed that the individual was a guest of the company and that he is doing "great."
"If you've ever been in the Oval Office, you stand a long time and it's warm. I'm pleased to say that the White House medical staff did a great job, and he's doing great, so nothing to be concerned about. Thanks for your concern,” David Ricks, Eli Lilly CEO, said.
While there was nothing political about this scary incident, it has predictably become fodder for Trump's critics.
Some took issue with Trump's stoic reaction to the apparent emergency, but according to Dr. Oz, Trump comforted the unidentified man's wife over the phone when the cameras were turned off.
Dr. Oz describes what happened when cameras cut in the Oval Office today when a person fainted mid-announcement.
He said Trump spoke on the phone to the wife of the man who fainted and calmed her down. pic.twitter.com/mC4LsP0uua
— Jake Traylor (@jake__traylor) November 6, 2025
Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was also criticized, with some accusing him of "bolting" out of the room. The video actually shows him walking away. Sources told People that Kennedy went to get a chair to support the man who fell.
In April, Dr. Oz's granddaughter passed out as he was being sworn into his new role, and he rushed over to help her. She turned out to be just fine.
