Weight loss programs based on genetic tests operating out of pharmacies at a $1600 cost to patients have become the latest enterprise to expose the Pharmacy Guild to controversy over its links to commercialised care.
The guild, already under a cloud over its deals with drug companies and the abandoned agreement with complementary medicine giant Blackmores, has an agreement with a genetic testing company to provide dietitian-led weight loss programs at pharmacy clinics.
Experts have dismissed the weight loss program as a ''gimmick'' which did not have the support of clinical research.
Under the Pharmacy Guild's agreement with a Melbourne-based testing company, MyGene, pharmacies provide clinic space for a dietitian to take the test swab that is then analysed for genes linked to how the body metabolises carbohydrates and lipids.
The in-pharmacy dietitian then provides nine sessions of dietary advice based on the test results that are said to guide ''a personally-optimised eating plan and weight loss program'', a joint statement by the guild and MyGene stated when the scheme was launched in March.
The overall price for the test...