Obesity Drugs, Pharmaceutical Profits, and Kids

From Ivanhoe Newswire 19 June 2006, on Obesity Drugs, Pharmaceutical Profits, and Kids.

New guidelines on obesity may have a negative effect on children in the United States if they are instated. In addition, the financial links between the organization promoting the proposals and the pharmaceutical industry are raising concerns.

Leading international health writer Ray Moynihan says an expert committee of the American Medical Association has "tentatively decided" to reclassify obesity definitions. The fear is healthy children would be classified as overweight or obese -- and therefore eligible for treatment with obesity drugs. Approximately a quarter of toddlers and two-fifths of children between ages 6 and 11 would be considered obese.

Moynihan asserts one of the advocates behind the proposed is a senior member of the International Obesity Task Force. This Task Force, Moyniham says, has close ties to the World Health Organization, which was set up in the mid-1990s with the help of grants from three drug companies and continues to benefit from drug company sponsorship.

Two-thirds of the funding given to the merged International Association for the Study of Obesity and the Task Force, Moynihan says, will come from pharmaceutical giants Roche and Abbott. Roche makes the anti-obesity drug Xenical (orlistat), and Abbott makes the appetite suppressant Reductil (sibutramine hydrochloride). In recent years, drug company sponsorship is likely to have amounted to "millions" says Moynihan, but the Task Force maintains internal scrutiny ensures independence from sponsor influence.

The expert committee says, "No decisions have been as to finalizing the
recommendations."

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to this link.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, 2006;331:1412