Belgium is being called on to take action against pharmaceutical companies for advertising their weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Mounjaro, after France imposed a nearly €2 million fine on them for ads on social media and in metro stations.
The companies placed posters in metro stations and social media adverts to encourage people to tackle their excess weight by speaking to a doctor about possible treatments.
"Under the guise of providing information, patients are encouraged to talk to a doctor about medication," said Laura Clays, spokesperson for Testachats.
According to the French medicines agency ANSM, the ads give the impression that anyone wishing to lose weight is eligible for treatment with weight-loss medication, regardless of their weight or BMI.
Banned advertising
Pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk must pay a fine of nearly €1.8 million in France, for advertising its medicines Saxenda and Wegovy. The latter, in particular, is known as an alternative to the diabetes drug Ozempic, which contains the same active ingredient to aid weight loss.
Manufacturer Eli Lilly, meanwhile, was fined just over €100,000 for promoting its weight-loss drug Mounjaro.
Unlike Ozempic, however, Wegovy and Mounjaro are specifically aimed at people with obesity.
"Even without explicitly mentioning the brand names Wegovy or Mounjaro, people quickly make the link with existing medication," said Clays. Just as in Belgium, advertising for prescription medicines is banned in France.
Now, consumer protection organisation Testachats is calling on Belgium's Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) to take action against this type of advertising as well.
In Belgium, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are investing heavily in marketing for weight-loss drugs as well: there are various active posts in the ad libraries of Meta and Google that direct people to information websites.
These encourage them to talk to a doctor about "various treatments in addition to lifestyle changes. Think of therapy, medication or surgery".
Diabetes drug Ozempic. Credit: Belga / Dirk Waem
The topic is also being actively highlighted in the media: last week, an article titled 'One in three Belgians who are overweight or obese are unaware of it', appeared on some newspaper websites.
The article was almost entirely copied from a press release drafted by a PR agency on behalf of Novo Nordisk, and the professor quoted has received more than €2,000 in conference and travel expenses from the company in recent years.
"Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are investing heavily in training for doctors on obesity," Clays said. "This creates a climate in which as many people as possible go to a doctor and as many doctors as possible prescribe their medication."
For Testachats, there are sufficient grounds in Belgium to call Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to account for these practices as well.
The organisation has written to the FAMHP asking it to take action against Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in Belgium as well. It is also calling on the Federal Government to work towards more modern advertising legislation, adapted to social media and personalised advertising.
