A rise in the number of doctors prescribing weight-loss drugs in Scotland has dramatically increased the amount the Lothian Primary Health Care trust is spending on tackling obesity. Over two years, there has been a 20% rise in spending meaning that NHS Lothian is now spending £400,000 on slimming pills.
The rise has led councillors to question whether the prescription of slimming drugs is replacing helping patients change their diet and lifestyle. Alison Johnston, councillor, said that they needed to get away from a “culture of a pill for every ill.” She added that the money would be better spent on healthy-living initiatives.
Since 1999, the bill in Lothian for weight loss drugs has risen from £5,000, imitating the same trends seen nationwide. The rise in cost is due to developments in the medical world, which has been racing to produce more effective slimming pills.
At the moment there are two drugs which are prescribed on the NHS, Reductil, which allows the body to feel satisfied with less food, and Xenical, which reduces the amount of dietary fat absorbed by the body. Various companies are currently running clinical trials for new pills, including Orexigen Therapeutics, who recently posted good results from their clinical trials for Contrave.
A consultant at the public health department, Dr. Colwn Jones, said that the trust did offer people support in maintaining a healthy weight, citing diet, exercise and family support as key ways for people to stay trim. He added that medication was a useful help for those people who had made concerted efforts to change their lifestyle but were not successful in losing weight.
Reductil and Xenical are both licensed as last-ditch alternatives that should only be used when someone has not managed to lose weight though diet and exercise alone. Regulators also say that they should be combined with a healthy lifestyle.