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Oprah Winfrey Continues BHRT Discussion
On Jan. 29, dozens of women joined in the audience and on webcams for part two of the BHRT debate on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Suzanne Somers, a long-time advocate for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), shared her story with the “Oprah” audience.
Robin McGraw, Dr. Phil’s wife and a BHRT patient, and Dr. Christiane Northrup, renowned author and speaker, started the conversation a couple weeks ago when they joined Oprah to talk about BHRT. Women across the country wrote in to “The Oprah Show” wanting more information on how to take control of their menopause symptoms.
Somers shared her experience being treated by her physician with BHRT to alleviate her menopause symptoms. She also demonstrated her daily regimen of compounded medications and dietary supplements. "By replacing my hormones with bioidentical hormones, I got my life back. I got my health back, I got my figure back, I got my happiness back," Somers said.
Oprah stressed that women “have the right to demand a better quality of life” and they should all do their research.
However, positive praise of BHRT was also met with harsh criticism when Dr. Lauren Streicher, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at
Northwestern
University
and a practicing ob-gyn at
Chicago
's
Northwestern
Memorial
Hospital
, expressed her dislike for compounding pharmacies.
To be certain, Dr. Streicher’s commentary was the most grievous offense contained in the episode on compounding pharmacies. She misstated facts and presented a distorted picture of pharmacy compounding and how the profession is regulated. Today IACP sent a formal letter to the producers of “The Oprah Show” to dispel the untruths presented by Dr. Streicher.
Hoping to clear up the confusion about compounding pharmacies, Dr. Mehmet Oz visited Central Pharmacy in
Santa Monica
,
Calif.
, where he interviewed Sharon Steen, owner of the compounding pharmacy. Steen estimated that 90 percent of the medications her pharmacy compounds are BHRT. A pharmacist and technician demonstrated how a hormone cream is prepared.
At the end of the show, a taped segment featured a woman who shared her struggles with menopause on part one of the BHRT debate that aired Jan. 15. Robin McGraw escorted the woman to have her hormone levels checked. It was determine that she needed BHRT, and only nine days later she was noticing the difference. "The side effect from the bioidentical hormones is a big dose of joy. It's fantastic,” she told Oprah via webcam.
IACP Responds to Oprah
The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP) responded to “The Oprah Winfrey Show” with a formal letter correcting the misstatements made by Dr. Lauren Streicher on the show.
To learn more about P2C2 (Patients and Professionals for Customized Care) , bio-identical hormones and your right to take compounded medications, visit www.savemymedicine.org.
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Dr. Streicher drew a false distinction between “FDA-approved pharmacies and non-FDA-approved pharmacies,” and insinuated that compounding pharmacies are not approved by the FDA. In fact, there is no such thing as an FDA-approved pharmacy. All pharmacies are registered, inspected and regulated by state boards of pharmacy – including compounding pharmacies.
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