British Docs to Fatten Wallets with Advice to Obese Patients

General practitioners (GPs) in the United Kingdom will reportedly receive payments each time they advise patients to lose weight and by maintaining lists of those who exceed weight guidelines. The GPs will apparently be able to offer free memberships in diet clubs, paid for by the National Health Service (NHS), as part of the new weight-control program. Critics are reportedly appalled that simply advising a patient to lose weight, without more, will increase GP incomes. They recommend that referrals to programs, such as Weight Watchers® and Slimming World®, would be more effective in addressing an obesity problem that is purportedly costing NHS more than £6 billion annually. See The Telegraph, May 22, 2011.