It was a made a few weeks ago and is without doubt one of US President Donald Trump’s most extraordinary claims yet — suggesting an unnamed experimental drug can bring the dead back to life.
If true, it would rank among the greatest medical breakthroughs in human history.
If not, which is likely, it could simply be the most outrageous dose of presidential hot air.
Or as social media users quickly joked, the first step towards a zombie apocalypse.
Speaking at a White House event in May to promote the Right To Try program, Mr Trump claimed that doctors had taken people who were “dead”, been given their last rites then had the experimental drug.
“We’ve taken people that were dead,” Mr Trump said. “We had a person given the last rites — gone, the kids are crying and everything — and started them on this drug.
“And the person became better. It works.”
He did not identify the medication, the patient, hospital or pharmaceutical company behind the mystery treatment.
His comments sparked disbelief online, with many comparing the claim to a Hollywood zombie movie, while others demanded proof of what would be one of the most significant medical discoveries ever made.
Medical experts say there is no known drug capable of bringing someone back from biological death.
While experimental medicines are continually being developed to treat terminal illnesses, no verified treatment exists that can revive someone who has died.
Mr Trump’s remarks came as he praised the Right to Try Act, legislation allowing some terminally ill patients to seek access to experimental drugs before they receive full regulatory approval.
Whether he was referring to patients who were critically ill, clinically unresponsive or speaking figuratively is not clear.
The White House has not identified the drug and no independent evidence has emerged to support the claim.
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