Hormone Group Protests Crackdown - Ad Campaign Calls Scrutiny of Custom Menopause Drugs Excessive

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By Sandra G. Boodman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 12, 2008; Page HE01

Stung by a crackdown on unproven claims about the safety and effectiveness of medications made by pharmacies to treat menopause, supporters of the drugs have launched a lobbying campaign aimed at the Food and Drug Administration.

Last week the HOME (Hands Off My Estrogens!) Coalition, a group based in tiny Edinburg, Va., placed a full-page ad in five newspapers, including USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, accusing regulators of being hostile to "natural" hormonal medicines made according to a doctor's prescription by a compounding pharmacy.

The ads urge women and their physicians to e-mail the White House and members of Congress asking them to protect patients' access to medications they claim are "bio-identical" to those found in the body.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020803444.html