Nurses in Oregon may soon lose their ability to prescribe estriol, the safe and effective bioidentical estrogen hormone. Meanwhile, an FDA-approved menopause drug is killing women at twice the usual mortality rate.
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that women who take the synthetic estrogen replacement product Prempro®—a combination of a potent estrogen derived from pregnant mares’ urine and a synthetic progestin—are twice as likely to die from breast cancer. (This confirms the research we reported to you in 2008.) This month’s Archives of Internal Medicine shows that women taking Prempro® or Premarin® are also 21% more likely to develop kidney stones over five years. A study published last year in The Lancet showed that Prempro® raises the number of lung cancer deaths. And the government-sponsored Women’s Health Initiative study was halted in July 2002 because long-term Prempro use was found to raise the risk of breast cancer, heart attack, and stroke.
Despite these manifold dangers, and despite the fact that the FDA has been unable to substantiate a single adverse event for estriol, the FDA is still working diligently behind the scenes to remove it from the market. This makes no sense to anyone other than those making a profit from the synthetic, dangerous alternatives to estriol—the same drug companies which have enjoyed large profits while keeping their competition (estriol) at bay.
The Oregon State Board of Nursing will meet on November 18 to finalize draft changes to the Nurse Practice Act, which as currently drafted will restrict nurses’ ability to prescribe non-FDA-approved drugs. This includes estriol and, we believe, is specifically designed to remove all access to estriol.
Keep in mind, as we often point out, that FDA approval costs an average of $1 billion, and nobody will pay that for non-patentable substances including estriol. So to keep repeating that only FDA-approved drugs are safe or effective is total nonsense.
Estriol is naturally occurring and is a part of every human body. This bioidentical estrogen is approved in Europe for treatment of menopause, and is the standard of care in most of the developed world. It is the weakest estrogen and generally accepted to be the safest estrogen treatment. But because it cannot be patented and it is not as profitable as synthetic alternatives, US drug companies have not taken it through the FDA’s drug approval process.
We are asking residents of Oregon to take action by emailing the Nursing Board and telling them to allow nurses to continue to prescribe estriol. We are also asking our members in other states to let us know if there are similar processes pending in any other states.
The attack on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy all started with a petition from the drug giant Wyeth (since bought by Pfizer) to ban estriol, a natural form of their synthetic drug, from the market. Ironically, when it filed the petition Wyeth was marketing its version of estriol in Europe as the “ideal therapy” for women. The FDA seemed to grant the petition, but then backpedaled in part because of the huge public outcry as we got the word out about this latest blatant example of crony capitalism. Efforts were made to shut down compounding pharmacy sales and to threaten doctors who prescribed estriol, then largely abandoned it in favor of a so-called public awareness campaign about the risks and benefits of hormone therapy for the treatment of menopausal symptoms and other conditions.
As we told you in August, an oral Multiple Sclerosis drug that contains estriol, Trimesta, is currently undergoing FDA trials. If Trimesta is approved, some of our concerns go away, because it would then be a component of an FDA-approved drug. But it could take years for Trimesta to make its way through the process, and approval is by no means certain.
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TO SEND YOUR MESSAGE TO THE OREGON NURSING BOARD Click THIS LINK to go to the Action Alert page. Once there, fill out the form with your name and address, etc., and customize your letter. We have a suggested message for you, but please feel free to add your own comments to the letter. |
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All Americans should be able to protest with the practitioners in Oregon. Every state that allows passage of laws such as this puts all the other states at a greater disadvantage.
Thanks for your feedback Kathleen. We’ve found that when a member of congress, a governor, or a state’s board of health hears from one of their actual constituents the impact is much greater than dozens of emails coming in from around the country (or world). Providing local citizens tools they can use to engage their elected officials on issues of natural health is what we’re all about.
I think the natural hormone replacement therapy, or bioidentical hormones, are much safer than the synthetic hormone drugs. I took Premarin and Provera for years, and developed breast cancer in 1995 which recently has returned. When I was on the synthetic drugs no doctor questioned my use of these drugs, even though my father had died from colon/rectal cancer and the risk of cancer connected to these drugs was published at the time I took them. When are we going to wake up in this country to the fact that we need to be open to whatever is the best treatment for medical conditions, not just what our system allows for? I think we have excellent doctors in the United States, but for chronic illnesses some other countries have better treatment because they are more open to natural medicine and looking at the total well-being of the patient.
The FDA only wants Conventional medicine…has ties to it…it is not objective…I need bioidentical hormones (estriol, progesterone, testosterone), compounding pharmacies LDN and Amour thyroid, Vit B12 shot methylcobalamin…vitamins/good oils and more to stay alive…I need many vitamins to be ok… I don’t want them to be called drugs and have them limited in dose/amount/drug price of them etc… Pray to God…if America is free and natural is God’s way…let it be protected!! What you fear happens…Pray positive prayers.
AMEN WENDY!!!! I am with you, i also need all these bio-identical, an I only pray that the American people will wake up and stop sticking their heads in the sand thinking this will all go away we have TO FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS AND STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS… OUR FREEDOM TO CHOOSE WHAT IS NATURAL AND HEALTHY FOR US AND OUR CHILDREN!!! And the only reason they want to call them drugs is so they can make money, that is what this world has come to GREED!
And you are so right what you fear you create! POSITIVE THOUGHTS POSITIVE PRAYER THAT GOD WILL TURN ALL OF THIS AROUND!
Thank you for the great work you do! We need this kind of activism increasingly! Don’t give up!
So many are fighting along side with you.
I had just posted a brief description of the research reported in JAMA last week. I’m glad to see an expanded and detailed article on it. Aside from the economic motive of eliminating bio-identical hormones, I suppose its blind allegiance to the status quo that leads to such lunacy as restricting access to bio-identical hormones. Only consumers can change the trend by learning about the issues and speaking out. Thanks for your voice.
The Nursing Board in Oregon would have an avalanche of letters, had concerned people in other states also been allowed to send our email letters. For some reason, it appears the Alliance doesn’t think that the nursing board would pay any attention to signed letters from out of state. My concern; is that if it is done in one state, it could spread out to others if it is allowed to go unchecked.
I absolutely agree. I am a nurse in Missouri and we are starting to hear of such things here among our advanced practice nurses. The nursing board is considering to allow them to prescribe narcotic medications, (so I am told), but not something like these bio-identical hormones. That is illogical and would show a complicity with drug companies. What happened to the doctor’s Hippocratic oath to do no harm or the Nightingale pledge for the nurses. Are these just empty words now? Just because these natural remedies aren’t patentable to where these huge drug companies can make their billions from them, they want them banned. That is just craziness. If Mr. Obama is so concerned about the cost of health care, it would make sense too for these types of therapies to be allowed because they are less expensive and they do work. I just hope Oregon and all the different state boards of nursing can see how they are being manipulated by the big pharma and preventing the advanced practice nurses from doing a better job of caring for the public.
FDA (Fraud and Death Administration) and the Pharmaceuticals are in bed with each other. Restructure the FDA or ban it entirely.
Exactly… ‘sick’ care in this country is criminal… that’s why I’ve formed an alliance with Dr. Edward Pearson of the New Medicine Foundation. He’s an MD and ABIHM… knows the science and chooses to treat the underlying cause of illness, not just mask with synthetic ‘new to body’ drugs. Most physicians give their patients estrogen… firmly believing that ‘all’ women need estrogen. How do they come to this conclusion WITHOUT ANY TESTING!. Treating only with bio-identical hormones after complete male/female panel and ASI testing is the answer. Take a look at our food supply and environment… now there’s the estrogen! There’s a reason for the epidemic chronic illness in this country… fortunately we have solutions. To find out more, check out Dr. Edward Pearson at http:newmedicinefoundation.org.
Thank you for sharing the link. I had never heard of this before but have of late been looking more into natural remedies. Our parents and grandparents were in better shape than we are today and I am sure it wasn’t just because of their diets and activities. I do believe it is because they didn’t see doctors as much as we do today. To see a doctor today, you truly take you life into your own hands if he is in bed with a pharmaceutical company. I have read about doctors that have prescribed medications for things that would have done better if the patient had gone home and took better care of themselves period.
If Dr. Raymond Peat is correct, decreasing estrogen protects one from cancer. Healers who follow Dr. Peat and others, believe estrogen causes cancer. So, maybe it should not be used ?
Some of these people on the Oregon State Board of Nursing would consider themselves “pro-choice.” Therefore, they should favor a woman’s right to choose bioidentical hormones!!!
Does anyone know if the drug Estradiol is safe or does it cause breast cancer like Prempro?
Estradiol is and should be less than 7% percent of the total estrogen in a woman’s body. NOBODY should take estradiol as it is cancer promoting. Estriol is protective against cancer and should make up more than 90% of the total estrogen in a woman’s body.
Follow the money; what consumers want are safe, natural solutions. What the pharmaceutical industry about is the money & discrediting, all throughout the system, beginning with physicians, anything that does not provide them revenue. God help us if this freedom of choice is denied us.
This is outragious! I cannot use any of the big-pharma estrogens, none of them. I had my overies out and need something. Right now I have to have the estriol put into a base olive oil because anything else burns the “you know what” out of of my vaginal area – in other words I get massive allergic reations that cause chemcial burns down there. NObig drug company is going to use something that is not a mix of horrible chemcials – they don’t care and they think every body is the same. I only wish that men had to take hormones because if they had too this would not be happening, no man is going to allow his penis’ skin to get blisters on it for a FDA drug – and since so many powers that be are men – well there you have it. They don’t have a clue to the need women have for these hormones, safe, reliable, body friendly hormones. And if a woman is in a position of the powers that be – SHAME ON HER!
I’m increasingly disgusted at our private-profit-oriented health care in the U.S. The big pharmaceutical and insurance companies have a lock on the current system, and Congress and Presidents of both parties are very happy to do their bidding after getting their huge campaign contributions. We need to nationalize all of health care and demand it be run in the best interest of the American people. Our system is killing us. When will Americans realize what we have is third rate, if that.
Greetings. Thank you so much for your immediate action regarding this issue. It is heartening to me that your organization responds to local, regional as well as national health concerns. I will forward your article to the Oregon Board of Nursing as well as the Board for the Nurse Practitioners of Oregon. Your support is so meaningful to me as I prepare testimony for the November 18th meeting of the Board. I will be testifying in defense of women’s rights for healthcare choices and the right of Nurse Practitioners in our state to prescribe the full range of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. I am truly grateful for your essential work.
Regards,
Debra Blaker, MSN, RNC, FNP
Two Rivers Optimal Health Center
Eugene, OR
Thank you for doing this. Perhaps your example could be used here in the state of Missouri if and when this comes into our area. I agree that if pro-choice is advocated then these choices should be included as well.
We need money to keep these things on the market and nobody wants to pay for this. However if Suzanne Sommers, Oprah Winfrey and Robin McGraw would pitch in to help maybe we wouldn’t be in this pinch….just a thought. They give to needy causes all the time. Why not pay for something they take that might be removed from the medical community.
Please keep bio-identical hormones—estriol, etc. available. I use only bio-identical hormones and so do my family members. All synthetic horones should be removed from the market as there is continual proof of there dangers—-documented again and again!
I am a Pharmacy Educator at a compounding pharmacy. If any of you have questions about bio-identical hormones, please find your nearest compounding pharmacist and talk to him/her. You can find a compounding pharmacy at http://www.iacprx.org. Many compounding pharmacies conduct seminars on Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, and the pharmacists would be happy to talk to you.
I have been using BHRT now for nine years, and you’d have to yank the hormones from my cold, dead hands to get them from me!
I have been on bio-identical hormones for over 3 years due to an anti-aging program with an organization called Cenegenics. They have given me my life back. I have a healthy sex drive again, my skin looks wonderful and I feel great. It is terrible that the FDA ignores these hormone alternatives and the pharamaceutical companies are awful and have way too much influence over the FDA.
“So what, get it through your heads people we are not trying to extend your life, but end it. Oh and while you are alive, we want to make as much money from you as possible.”
That is the position of BIG PHARMA, and CODEX. we are truly out here on our own. So much for freedom in America.
Thank you for the information. Could you please clarify this point which arouse from your comment on Trimesta: if a substance is part of an FDA approved drug, the FDA cannot ban it f it is sold individually?
Thank you, and thank you again for your informative newsletter.
Elena
Again, big pharma is just big pigs at the trough. They aren’t trying to HELP anyone but THEMSELVES. It’s disgusting. If they wanted to actually to see anyone actually CURE people, they would be totally supportive of these natural approaches, but instead, it is THEY who want to government to REGULATE everything so that only THEY can make money with their chemically altered versions of natural, good things that turn them into poison potions.
EVERYONE needs to learn about the depopulation plan of the progressives and get involved in our defense and spread the word. By forcing people to use toxic drugs with no alternatives is one way to achieve their goal. Two informative shows are Glen Beck, Conspiracy Theory and WNDdot com web site. The next thing we all need to do is to write our congressmen and educate them about the problems that we are facing regarding our natural therapies and food choices. Hopefully they can help us when it comes time to vote on these things. That is, if there is a vote. FDA, WHO and CDC are controlled by Big Pharma. Doctors get their info about drugs from big pharma and also big favors for prescribing them. Even the veterinarians are poisoning our pets with drugs that lame and kill. Natural News is a great site for alternative ideas. Please don’t wait until you can’t get what you need to start working on the solution. Use your spare time wisely.
I would not use Glenn Beck as a source of “information”. He is a conspiracy theorist and is not to be taken seriously.
You are probably wondering why do we use the word, “bioidentical”? That’s an excellent question. I can remember back when I was in first year medical school learning biochemistry at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Our class used Lehninger’s classic textbook of biochemistry. Lehninger never used the word, bio-identical hormones, because all hormones are by definition, bioidentical hormones. They simply used the word, “hormone”. Using a word like “bioidentical” was simply redundant and unnecessary for a biochemistry textbook, as it should be today.
For More:
http://www.drdach.com/BioIdentical_Hormones.html
jeffrey dach md
Not all hormones are “bio identical” Progestin (used in Prempro) is most definitely not bio identical for humans, neither is the estridiol derived from pregnant mares urine (premarin). You simply prove the inadequacy of what passes for medical education and the dangers thereof.
the report is really very shocking as the negative results are very dangerous. It should be in control to stop all this to stop. If you want to get deep detailed knowledge on Bio-identical hormones. You can find this here at the Compounding Pharmacy of America. http://compoundingrxusa.com/.