Medicine Man Goes to Washington

Barry Feely and Brian Smith of Medicine Man Prairie Pharmacy in Hayden, ID and Medicine Man West Pharmacy in Post Falls, ID made a trip to Washington, D.C.this June on behalf of hundreds of thousands of women whose hormonal needs can't be met by manufactured medicines.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, the number one manufacturer of synthetic hormone products, petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to restrict the compounding of medications containing estriol, an estrogen produced by the human body. Because of this petition, the FDA asserted a new policy that will deny women's access to bioidentical hormones.

Last month several key representatives introduced H. Con. Res. 342. The bipartisan resolution states that "the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) new policy restricting women's access to medications containing Estriol, does not serve the public interest" and called on the FDA to "reverse its policy."

While meeting with various elected officials and their staff, the pharmacists were greeted with an overwhelming sense of support from their members of the Congress regarding H.Con.Res.324. Feely and Smith and their colleagues discussed the value of pharmacy compounding and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. "This trip gave us a chance to have our voices heard by members of Congress," said Feely. "With help from thousands of patients and prescribers who called and wrote their members of Congress, our voices were heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill."