U.S. FDA says TV ads for Novo diet pill are false or misleading

The health watchdog said the TV ad misleadingly stated wiggsIts pill form is an advancement or improvement over other weight loss drugs that fall into the GLP-1 category.

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“We confirm that Novo Nordisk received an email from U.S. Food and Drug Administration “The ad relates to a television ad for Wegovy pills that has been running since its launch and is not a Super Bowl ad,” Novo spokesperson Ambre James-Brown said. The agency said Novo’s direct-to-consumer ads violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and required the drugmaker to take immediate action to address any violations, which could include halting all ads containing misleading claims.

James Brown added: “We take all regulatory feedback seriously and are responding to the FDA to address their concerns about the display of ads.”

The FDA also said that the “Live Lighter” and “Way Forward” claims misleadingly suggested additional weight loss compared with other currently approved GLP-1 therapies, but this has not been proven.

“Additionally, they misleadingly suggest benefits other than physical weight loss, such as emotional relief, reduced psychological burden, hope, or direction in patients’ lives, positioning the drugs as addressing broader life challenges rather than treating specific diseases, which has also not been proven,” the agency said in the letter.

The FDA also noted that the ad contained a demonstration in which some on-screen text did not match the audio.