Opinion: Too bad for PowNed, but their Ozempic documentary smacks of advertising and public health comes first

Broadcaster PowNed is said to have been rebuffed by the Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate (the Inspectorate) because of a planned documentary about the use of the improper slimming drug Ozempic. The Inspectorate fears that the documentary violates the advertising ban on medicines.

Broadcasting chairman Dominique Weesie is incensed about the alleged ban and says that a threat has been made to impose a penalty (the IGJ denies this, ed.). In doing so, the Inspectorate would infringe on journalistic freedom. Who is right now?

The fact that the warning of a possible penalty appears to PowNed as a de facto prohibition does not make the Inspectorate’s conduct unlawful, on the contrary. The Inspectorate has the legal task of monitoring compliance with, among other things, the Medicines Act and detecting violations. Regardless of how the conversation went, PowNed reproaches the Inspectorate for carrying out its assigned task. So quite nonsensical.

Journalistic responsibility

The Medicines Act specifically aims to protect the population against the marketing and use of unsafe and unregistered medicines. Ozempic is registered as such, but not as a slimming aid. The Inspectorate must act precisely to protect uninformed citizens against frivolity and possible health risks. This protective function arises from the human right to health care and has nothing to do with patronizing.

Precisely because it is a scarce commodity, the Inspectorate must ensure that it is prescribed and used exclusively for medically indicated purposes (namely diabetes). Non-indicated use may endanger the health of diabetes patients and is therefore objectionable. Certainly a well-known Dutch person such as Filemon Wesselink has a special responsibility for the improper use of this scarce medicine. This has nothing to do with free news gathering, after all, Ozempic’s slimming function has been widely publicized, but rather with sensationalism.

Filemon’s trouser collection

Now the distinction between information provision (via the documentary) and advertising is not always clear. Its assessment depends on various factual circumstances. But the suggestion that presenter Filemon Wesselink’s weight loss is associated with the use of Ozempic and the fact that he lost his collection slim fittrousers fit again, tends towards prohibited public advertising. Especially if the benefits of the drug are emphasized and health risks are not sufficiently highlighted, this is more likely to be a case of promotion than of objective information.

Public advertising of medicines is considered undesirable in Europe, as it contributes to unnecessary medicalization and fuels cost increases in healthcare. Too bad for PowNed, but health interests apply here. There can be no question of a ban on broadcasting the documentary, but anyone who burns their buttocks must sit on their blisters.