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A 13-minute phase on a latest episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes seemed to be a information story on Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug Wegovy, however was really a sponsored promotion violating federal rules, according to the nonprofit public well being advocacy group Physicians Committee.
The group filed a grievance with the Food and Drug Administration final week, arguing that the phase, which aired on January 1, violates the FDA’s “truthful steadiness” requirement. This regulation requires that drug commercials give a good steadiness to a drug’s dangers and advantages.
The Physicians Committee claims that CBS’s 60 Minutes acquired promoting funds from Novo Nordisk previous to the protection, and that the aired phase solely included consultants who had additionally been paid by Novo Nordisk. The phase lauded the drug with phrases and phrases comparable to “extremely efficient,” “secure,” “spectacular,” “fabulous,” and “strong,” however did not delve into uncomfortable side effects or various therapies and techniques for weight reduction.
“The 60 Minutes program appeared like a information story, but it surely was successfully a drug advert,” Physicians Committee President Neal Barnard, adjunct professor of medication at George Washington University School of Medicine, mentioned in a press release. He famous that Wegovy has a spread of potential dangers and uncomfortable side effects that went unmentioned in CBS’s protection, comparable to digestive issues, elevated coronary heart charge, gallstones, pancreatitis, and severe drops in blood sugar. The drug additionally poses dangers for people who find themselves pregnant or might grow to be pregnant.
The group is looking for to have all of CBS’s Wegovy-related tales—there are 4—pulled from its web sites and a “corrective advert” that incorporates dangers and uncomfortable side effects put up of their place.
In a press release to media retailers, Novo Nordisk mentioned:
Novo Nordisk didn’t present any fee or sponsorship to CBS 60 Minutes for his or her reporting on weight problems as a part of a information phase that aired on January 1, 2023, and we didn’t management any of the content material or have any function in figuring out or choosing the medical doctors and sufferers featured within the information phase.