Re: “Bioidentical Hoax?”

I know this article is pretty old, but I just came across it the other day and thought you might want a little more information, and may even want to do a follow-up article. As a marketing professional, I’m very cognizant of language that appears to significant, and even raise emotions, but in fact says nothing at all. Such is most of the FDA related comments in your article.

An accurate claim in your article is that FDA-approved drugs required consistent doses, and it is unfortunate that there are occasionally circumstances where unscrupulous people take advantage and fleece the public using unregulated medications. But against the broad landscape of several millions of doses prescribed every month, these cases are rare, and generally well publicized.

One thing to note is that when the FDA has cracked down on pharmacies, as you stated in your article, they did so for making claims, not for causing problems in patients, or even for failing to live up to those claims, either of which would be a legitimate reason for a crackdown. Unfortunately, the real reason for the crackdown is that the pharmaceutical industry has made it illegal for any but a pharmaceutical company to make claims. In other words, it is illegal for a non-pharmaceutical company to make claims, even if they are true, and it is legal for a pharmaceutical company to make claims, even if they are not true, and even if their solution is worse than the original problem.

Another thing to consider about their treatment of BHRT is that the FDA does not make any claims that it doesn’t work, only that they don’t research, test or regulate it, and therefore can’t prove that it works. By that same token, they do not, and cannot claim that it doesn’t work. The same is true of the carrots or tomatoes that you grow in your own garden. They are not regulated, they have not been clinically tested by the FDA, and therefore the FDA makes no guarantee’s regarding their safety. It is also illegal to claim that they do anything positive for your body.

While it is true that “natural” does not guarantee value or safety, it is equally unfair to claim that anything not clinically tested by the FDA is by default not safe, or is even questionable.

If/when however, the FDA discovers problems created by any food, supplement or anything else we eat, they are generally on top of those things pretty quickly, even when they are not regulated. That fact that they have not been able to stop, or even hinder the BHRT industry is a testament to its success as a treatment.

Note also that since the FDA does not regulate natural hormones, they don’t study them, and can therefore make no authoritative claims regarding their safety in comparison to manufactured drugs. Fore accurate information, there are several thousands of resources produced by medical professionals and independent health organizations who actually do research and test them. The results are overwhelming that they are in fact safer (with regard to side effects) than any comparable manufactured alternative, especially regarding cancer.

It might be interesting for you to review many of the actual tests performed annually by the FDA, and see how regularly they are manipulated in favor of the drug companies to the detriment of the general public. If you are looking for a reason for outrage, I can send you several examples.