Urgent Action Needed to Protect Your Right to Choose Bio-Identical Hormones
Steven F. Hotze, M.D.
March 13, 2007

Your right to use bio-identical hormones and other medications prepared by compounding pharmacies is under attack again. You must contact your U.S. Senator and Congressman today to ensure that you keep your freedom to choose natural, bio-identical hormones and other medications prescribed by your physicians and prepared by your pharmacist.

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), with the support of Senators Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) and Richards Burr (R- North Carolina), has drafted legislation which, if adopted, would jeopardize your right, and that of your physician and your pharmacist, to use bio-identical hormones and other medications from a compounding pharmacy. Instead, the bureaucrats at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would determine which pharmaceutical company drug is best for you. 

Senator Kennedy is the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (H.E.L.P.) Committee. He plans to bring his bill before the committee on March 28, 2007. So you need to act immediately to protect your rights.

Go to www.projectfans.org and use the link on the Project FANS home page to contact your U.S. Senators and Congressman by e-mail, phone and fax today.

You may also contact the members of the Senate HELP committee listed below:

2007 US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee

Committee Chair:  Sen.Edward M. Kennedy (DEM-MA)

Ranking Republican Member:  Sen. Michael B. Enzi (REP-WY)

Democrats (10)

Sen. Christopher Dodd (DEM-CT)

Sen. Tom Harkin (DEM-IA)

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (DEM-MD)

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (DEM-NM)

Sen. Patty Murray (DEM-WA)

Sen. Jack Reed (DEM-RI)

Sen. Hillary Clinton (DEM-NY)

Sen. Barack Obama (DEM-IL)

Sen. Sherrod Brown (DEM-OH)

Republicans (10)

Sen. Judd Gregg (REP-NH)

Sen. Lamar Alexander (REP-TN)

Sen. Richard Burr (REP-NC)

Sen. Johnny Isakson (REP-GA)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (REP-AK)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (REP-UT)

Sen. Pat Roberts (REP-KS)

Sen. Wayne Allard (REP-CO)

Sen. Tom Coburn (REP-OK)

Independents

Sen. Bernard Sanders (IND-VT)

If you live in Texas, then contact your U.S. Senators listed below:

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Phone: (202) 224-5922
Fax:    (202) 224-0776
Click Here to E-Mail Senator Hutchison

Senator John Cornyn
Phone:  (202) 224-2934
Fax:     (202) 228-2856
Click Here to E-mail Senator Cornyn

Ask your senators and congressmen to protect your right to choose bio-identical hormones and other compounded medications by defeating Senator Kennedy’s misguided bill on compounding pharmacy.

The FDA currently has no jurisdiction over state licensed and regulated pharmacies or physicians but Kennedy’s bill would dramatically change this situation. Kennedy’s bill would give the FDA the authority to tell your physician what, if any, compounded medications he could prescribe and to dictate to your pharmacist what type of compounded medications he could prepare. If you are taking bio-identical hormones or other medications prepared by a compounding pharmacy, then you need to know that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to deny you the right to have these medications. Wyeth, the maker of Premarin and Prempro, has been pressuring the FDA to ban compounded pharmacies from preparing bio-identical hormones which compete against its counterfeit hormones.

Kennedy’s legislation is entitled the Safe Drug Compounding Act of 2007. It should be entitled the Elimination of Drug Compounding Act because that is what the drug companies and the FDA want to do. Always be on your guard when someone says, “I’m with the government and I’m here to help you.” What this usually means is that your rights will be denied and your taxes will be increased. So it is with this bill.

Please forward this page to your family and friends. We need to flood the Congress with e-mails, phone calls and faxes.

Sample E-mail or FAX to Senators and Congressmen Opposing Kennedy’s Bill on Compounding Pharmacy

(Please reword and personalize this letter.)

Dear Senator or Representative ________:

Because of your concern for protecting patients’ rights, I wanted to bring to your attention my concern over legislation entitled the Safe Drug Compounding Act of 2007 which has been drafted by Senator Edward Kennedy. Senator Kennedy is planning on introducing quickly this proposed legislation with co-sponsors, Senators Richard Burr and Pat Roberts.

My physician has prescribed bio-identical hormones to treat my health conditions and I am feeling so much better than I did on the drugs which I had previous taken. The type that he prescribed can only be purchased from a compounding pharmacy.

Drug Companies, particularly Wyeth, the maker of Premarin, have been using the FDA to try to eliminate compounding pharmacies which are their competitors.

If the Safe Drug Compounding Act were to become law, then some bureaucrat from the FDA might restrict and possibly even deny my access to vital compounded medications which my doctor has determined that I need.

Compounding pharmacies are licensed and regulated by the states and it should stay that way. We don’t need big government telling my doctor or me that we cannot use bio-identical hormones.

Please protect my right to choose bio-identical hormones and other compounded medications by defeating Senator Kennedy’s misguided bill on compounding pharmacy.

Sincerely yours,

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 9th, 2007 at 1:45 pm and is filed under Dr. Steven Hotze. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.