Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s proposal to provide weight-loss drugs to unemployed people considered obese as a way to help them return to work and reduce the demands placed on the NHS as a result of obesity alleviate, should raise ethical standards. alarms (Employers should be fined for unhealthy workplaces, says think tank, October 16).
Would the use of the drug be voluntary, or would it become a condition for entitlement to benefits? Thinking back to Labour’s previous support for conditionality and sanctions, one can guess which way this would go.
Would giving drugs for obesity set a precedent for drugs for other medical conditions that are thought to affect the chances of finding a job? Many who become unemployed become depressed. Will the Department for Work and Pensions insist on the use of antidepressants, or will they miss out on benefits? Many unemployed people get angry. Will they be given anger suppressant medications?
Another set of ethical issues concerns implicit selectivity. Will anti-obesity drugs be provided free only to the unemployed, or to everyone who wants to lose weight? The latter would be impractical, but any form of discrimination would raise questions about fairness.
It’s also concerning that research shows that weight loss medications can have unfortunate medical side effects. And once a person uses the drug, a person may need to continue taking it to avoid regaining the weight lost.
In short, medical policy must be based on medical criteria, and not on dubious instrumentality.
Dr. Guy Standing
Professorial research associate, Sincluding University of London