‘You Look Like a Gazelle’: Dr. Oz Makes Shocking Comment to CNN’s Pamela Brown

Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, compared CNN anchor Pamela Brown to a “gazelle” on live television during a discussion about weight-loss drugs being included in President Donald Trump’s new discount prescription website — commenting that Brown “probably” did not need the medical assistance.

Oz was on Friday’s episode of The Situation Room with Brown and her co-anchor Wolf Blitzer to talk about TrumpRx, a website operated by the Department of Health and Human Services that launched this week, delayed from a planned rollout in January over anti-kickback worries and other concerns about its legality.

Among the medicines listed on the site for direct sale are drugs to treat diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure — as well as weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound (prescribed for diabetes patients as the brand names Ozempic and Mounjaro, respectively).

The New York Times reported last fall that it was “unclear whether Mr. Trump’s deals would significantly lower Medicaid’s drug prices” and it was unlikely to be a significant benefit for Americans who have insurance, because “most insured patients pay less in out-of-pocket costs than they would pay for the drugs directly.”

Blitzer asked Oz about that issue, noting that that “the site works by targeting people who are willing to pay cash for their prescriptions rather than insurance plans, but it’s unclear if all of the patients, especially those with insurance, will see cost savings from the site to buy their medicines.”

“For Americans who are paying thousands of dollars in insurance premiums each year, what do you say to them?” asked Blitzer.

Oz replied that “a big part of our hope” for the website is that “sunlight” and “transparency” were “the best disinfectant.”

“Make it easy, in plain English, to understand what you’re really getting,” Oz continued, explaining that the Trump administration hoped “now that everyone knows the true worldwide, most fair, drug prices, it’s going to allow employers, insurers, and everyone in between to be able to take out the middleman and drive those prices down.”

The primary concern, Oz said, was for groups like Medicaid recipients, helping state governments get inexpensive drug pricing, and access for cash-pay patients.

He then brought up GLP-1 weight loss drugs, which were now available not just as shots, but also as pills.

But our primary concern was for a couple of groups. We wanted people on Medicaid. We wanted state governments to get inexpensive drug pricing. We want to make sure all the cash pay patients can now get these medications. Well, if you want to go on a glp-1 drug, a weight loss drug, and you just announced, and I’ll share this to make sure everyone understands it, these aren’t just shots. They’re pills now.

“Like Ozempic or Wegovy,” said Blitzer.

“Exactly,” replied Oz. “Now, Pam looks like a gazelle. You probably don’t need it –”

Brown offered a faint laugh and commented, “well, thank you,” as she shrugged and Oz continued, saying “there are plenty of people, plenty of people who need these medications desperately and they can’t afford them,” and the administration was hoping to expand access so GLP-1 drugs were not just for rich people on the “Upper East Side of Manhattan” but also “folks in the south side of Chicago, or folks living in poverty in rural America.”

Expanding access to GLP-1 drugs would ultimately “save money for the taxpayer,” Oz argued, “because when you reduce obesity rates, you reduce high blood pressure and diabetes and all the downstream illnesses, heart disease, kidney disease, brain disease, and now you’re spending less money dealing with chronic illness because people are healthier and they feel better.”

Inquiring minds are left to wonder if the White House is playing The Lion King on repeat, as Oz’s comments comparing Brown to a gazelle came just a few hours after Trump posted a controversial video depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. After loud backlash — including from several Republicans — Trump deleted the video, blaming an unnamed White House staffer for “erroneously” posting it.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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