A young girl collapsed near the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office while President Donald Trump spoke during a Friday swearing in ceremony for former heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, who rushed over to assist the child.
A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital that the girl was a family member of Oz’s who fainted during the ceremony, but that she has recovered.
Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. swore in Oz to oversee the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Senate confirmed Oz April 3, and he is now tasked with managing nearly $1.5 trillion in federal healthcare spending.
In addition to leading the Medicare and Medicaid services, he also will oversee the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). He will be responsible for issuing decisions on how the government will cover procedures, hospital stays and medication.
At the ceremony, Oz laid out his priorities in the role to advance the Make America Healthy Again movement that Kennedy is spearheading, and instituting reform for Medicare and Medicaid.
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Dr. Mehmet Oz will lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Here, he sits before testifying at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025.
“Healthy people don’t consume healthcare resources,” Oz said in regard to the so-called “MAHA” movement. “The best way to reduce drug spending is to use less drugs, because you don’t need them.”
“Next big thing we want to focus on is modernizing Medicare and Medicaid,” Oz said. “That’s how Americans will get the care that they want, need and deserve. Need to empower patients and providers, both the doctors and the patients, both have to be equipped with better tools.”
Lastly, Oz said he would seek to weed out any fraud or abuse within the Medicare and Medicaid systems.
Medicare is a government healthcare program that provides coverage to roughly 65 million Americans aged 65 or older, per the Center for Medicare Advocacy. Medicaid is a federal assistance program for approximately 72 million low-income Americans, according to Medicaid.gov.
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Dr. Mehmet Oz greets Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., as Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., looks on before Oz testifies at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Oz received his medical and business degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, and became a household name during television stints, including “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and 13 seasons of “The Dr. Oz Show.”
Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
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