Frankfurt and Geneva - A German plan to trim government healthcare spending may hit sales of anti-obesity drugs such as Sanofi-Aventis' new diet pill, Acomplia.
At the same time, new EU rules are being negotiated that will restrict the health benefit claims food and drink companies can make about their products.
A German panel earlier this month recommended that Acomplia be classified as a lifestyle drug, not one necessary to fight disease, which would mean state health insurance plans won't reimburse the drug's cost. The government has two months to consider the proposal.
The recommendation is part of Germany's strategy to reduce medical expenses, echoing a new round of health spending cutbacks in several European countries.
With obesity becoming a pandemic, some doctors say the proposal is short-sighted.
"From a medical point of view, this is very sad," said endocrinologist Sven Diederich. "It's a real innovation."
German health spending eats up about E230 billion (R2 trillion) a year, or about 11 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 6 percent in the UK and 16 percent in the US. German health minister Ulla Schmidt estimates that E20 billion a year is wasted on unnecessary treatments.
"Obesity will be one of the major public health challenges in years to come," said endocrinologist Alexander Mann. "A wave of diabetes is about to engulf us, an obesity tide is already here."
Companies such as Nestlé and Unilever have responded to such concerns by developing so-called functional foods that they say boost metabolism or reduce disease risks.
But Avril Doyle, an Irish member of the European parliament, said new laws on regulating assertions about such nutritional benefits of foods should come into effect in the EU early next year.
She said: "The new legislation will make it a lot tougher for companies to make health claims" about new products.