An Eli Lilly obesity awareness campaign running in the Copenhagen metro has drawn criticism from doctors, patient groups and politicians. Health Minister Ida Auken says she will raise the concerns with the other government parties.
DR reports that large posters from the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly currently urge Danes to seek information about obesity. The posters carry the name “Lilly” in stylized lettering. One line states that many people living with severe obesity struggle for years, alone.
Josephine Rathenborg, chair of the Danish Medical Association, which represents more than 38,000 doctors, criticized the ads. Speaking to DR’s P1 Orientering, she said it is difficult to see who the sender is, and that advertising medicines in this way misleads consumers. Per Rathenborg, a reader would need to know pharmaceutical logos well to identify the company behind the campaign.
Pharmaceutical companies are not allowed to advertise prescription medicines in Denmark, DR notes, and the posters do not do so directly. They lead to the website MinSværeOvervægt.dk, where visitors are advised to speak with their doctor. From there, users can click on to a digital weight-loss program that includes weight-loss medicine.
Eli Lilly rejects the criticism. In a written reply to DR’s P1 Morgen, the company said the campaign is not an attempt to sell weight-loss medicine, but an information campaign about severe obesity as a chronic disease.
In earlier reporting by DR, Morten Freil, director of the association Danske Patienter, called the campaign deeply problematic. According to that coverage, the criticism from patient representatives was that the campaign functions as a sales tactic for weight-loss drugs.
The Danish Medical Association argues that the case shows the rules lack clarity. As stated by Rathenborg, there is a need for a framework setting out what companies may do and how they may advertise. She said health information must be ethically and professionally sound, non-stigmatizing, and clearly separated from commercial interests.
Peder Hvelplund, health spokesperson for Enhedslisten, called for tighter rules and stronger oversight of company marketing by the Danish Medicines Agency. According to Hvelplund, public health information should be left to the authorities, not to companies with a financial interest in creating a need.
Auken, who is from the Social Democrats, declined an interview but replied to DR in writing. She said companies’ communication must not leave citizens feeling misled, and that she will discuss the concerns raised with the other government parties. Charlotte Green, deputy chair of the Folketing’s health committee and health spokesperson for the Conservatives, wants the matter debated in Parliament as well.
Green noted that the government does not have a majority on its own, and said the case calls for a broader political discussion. She also wants an examination of whether the legislation needs tightening, saying the practice has moved into a gray zone that can appear misleading to consumers.
