More people in Cheshire prescribed detrimental anti-obesity drug

Medications designed to help people lose weight have recently dominated headlines – new figures now show more people in Cheshire last year were prescribed the anti-obesity drug orlistat.

Approved for use by the NHS in 2010, orlistat is the current primary weight lose drug that is prescribed. Commonly known as Xenical, the drug can be distributed by doctors or can be bought at a pharmacy – the tablet works by preventing around a third of fat from being absorbed into the body.

According to data from the NHS OpenPrescribing service over 4000 prescriptions for orlistat were prescribed by GPs in the former NHS Cheshire CCG area throughout 2022, which cost the NHS a staggering £110,500.

The number of prescriptions given out in Cheshire is up from 3,550 in 2021, but down from pre-pandemic levels when an alarming 4,180 were distributed in 2019.

Research that was gathered from a Health Survey for England in 2021 showed 25.9% of adults in England were obese and a further 37.9% were classed as overweight. Alongside this, obesity statistics that were reported by UK Parliament at the beginning of this year show around three quarters of people aged between 45-74 are classed as either overweight or obese. 

News of weight loss drug prescriptions being up in Cheshire, follows the recent announcement from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in which they have approved the use of another weight loss drug – semaglutide – by NHS England.

Patients who are eligible to receive the drug will be able to access a prescription to semaglutide, otherwise known as wegovy and ozempic, for a maximum of two years.

However, Beat, a leading UK charity that provides support for people suffering with eating disorders, claims the introduction of a new weight loss drug can be detrimental to those that have negative relationships with food.

Tom Quinn, Beat’s Director of External Affairs, said: ‘Weight-loss medications like Semaglutide can be extremely attractive to people with eating disorders as they appear to provide quick results.

‘However, these medications can be very dangerous as they can worsen harmful thoughts and behaviours for those unwell, or contribute to an eating disorder developing for someone who is already vulnerable.

‘Eating disorders affect people of all weights, BMIs, ages, genders and backgrounds, and you can never tell if someone is unwell just by measuring their weight.

‘It’s crucial that an eating disorder screening is carried out for every individual and that people with eating disorders are not able to access a prescription.’  

Image: i yunmai