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Premarin Women’s Hormone Therapy Usage in Decline

Posted by on January 17, 2016

Hormone Therapy Usage in Decline

In the past, Dr. Martin Appelt of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency promoted the  deadly Premarin®/Prempro® industry whilst referring to menopause as a “disease”  that requires treatment (apparently,  with Premarin®).  But as we know,  the opinions and views of the CFIA are often in direct antipathy with acknowledged science.

premarinThe Women’s Health Initiative was a long-term national health studied that focused on strategies for preventing cancer,  heart disease, and osteoporosis in post-menopausal women.  The study,  which produced over 1,000 articles and approved 340 ancillary studies,  changed the way that doctors treated and prescribed drugs for women.

About 18 per cent of Canadian women aged 50-69 were taking HRT drugs in 2002.  By 2004, after the U.S. government-funded WHI results were published, that rate had dropped to less than five per cent. The risks of HRT were made clear.  Last year we read that the class action lawsuit launched against Wyeth Canada Inc. for selling the once ubiquitous hormone replacement therapy drugs settled and a $13.65 million payment awarded by the B.C. Supreme Court.

In the U.S., Pfizer has paid out more than $1 billion in numerous other HRT  cases. Unfortunately, it is easy and comfortable for physicians to prescribe drugs that have been around for a long time. It is also easy not to think about our contribution to the cruel chain of events that our prescriptions may allow.  The industry continues to be heavily scrutinized for its impact on women and its production of horses in an already saturated market.    Premarin (1)

Two new articles have been published on the emerging deconstruction of the conjugated equine estrogen industry:

From The Spectrum,  written by Amey Vance

For almost six decades, doctors have prescribed hormone replacement therapies (HRT) to help women cope with symptoms. In the early 2000s, the Women’s Health Initiative conducted the first major clinical trial of the risks and benefits of estrogen and progestin and estrogen alone hormone replacement therapies.

“Initially, hormone replacement therapy was used to treat several conditions, said Derrick Haslem, oncologist with Intermountain Southwest Cancer Center, including osteoporosis, vaginal dryness, heart disease, mood swings, and post-menopausal symptoms.

The Women’s Health Initiative clinical trials of estrogen and progestin combined hormone replacement therapy and were stopped early when test results began to show a marked increase in the risk of breast cancer, coronary heart disease, and pulmonary embolism.

After the Women’s Health Initiative study, it became very clear that women over 60 should not take hormone replacement therapy for multiple reasons.”

Please also read this article from the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society,  written by Nick Paul Taylor:

In the EU,  the EMA (European Medicines Agency) has updated the product information for hormone-replacement therapy (HRT). “The changes follow a review by the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) late last year, which concluded EMA should strengthen the warning about the link between HRT and ovarian cancer.”

Dr. Ray Kellosalmi,, Retired Physician & Board Member of the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, presented a talk at the 2014 American Equine Summit titled “Horse Slaughter & PMU: Shared Disgrace, Shared Challenge.”  This is a video of that talk.

For an in-depth look at the Premarin® industry please go here to read Jane Allin’s work on Premarin for the HorseFund.

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