Take Drugs or Nothing?

Dear Reader,

It’s hard to believe but your government is considering a bill that if passed would in many cases give you no option but drugs. The big drug companies and the FDA are planning to cut off your choice of medications. Even the choices your own doctor makes…

The latest bill going to congress, the “Safe Drug Compounding Act of 2007” would make many natural compounds and medications from a compounding pharmacist illegal.

A compounding pharmacist is a specialist who can mix, blend and prepare customized medications and dosages according to your doctors instructions. That may not sound important to you, but it could have a profound impact on your life.

There’s not a single day that goes by in my practice that I don’t use compounding pharmacists. Why? Because it’s better medicine than relying on Big Pharma’s one size fits all rip offs. Here’s an example: A patient needs a small dose of a blood pressure drug – let’s say 6 mg. But the smallest dose offered by a drug company is 25mg. In that case, I’ll have a compounding pharmacist custom prepare a 6 mg dose of that drug.

It’s simple, effective and very economical. Prices are much lower when you can buy directly from the pharmacist. But that’s the real issue. If it’s not a prepackaged patented dose, it means drug companies and the Feds in cahoots at the FDA are losing money.

You see the drug companies pay the FDA to approve their drugs. It sounds unbelievable, but it’s completely legal. And when doctors use compounding pharmacists, theirs no money for the FDA drug company cronies.

But the problem with the FDA’s attempt to drive compounding pharmacists out of business cuts even deeper…

If you’re a regular reader of Doctor’s House Call, you’ve heard me talk about the remarkable power of Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement. It’s the safer and more effective alternative to dangerous “hormone replacement therapy” (HRT) drugs sold by the big pharmaceutical companies.

But what you read about as HRT aren’t real hormones but drugs. They cause a number of health risks and side effects, including an increased risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Prempro and Premarin are two popular examples of these so-called “hormone replacement” drugs. You’re not really “replacing” anything. These drugs were never in your body. To introduce that hormone-mimicking drug to your body is an experiment with unpredicatable results. Not so with the bio-identical version…

I use customized doses of bio-identical hormones for my patients. They’re so effective, some of my patients travel thousands of miles just to see me at my clinic in south Florida.

Being able to create just the right formula to meet their individual needs makes all the difference. These customized doses prescribed by doctors are prepared by compounding pharmacists.

For women, bio-identical hormones can help boost progesterone. At the onset of menopause, a woman’s progesterone production falls to almost zero. Many women I measure have progesterone below the lowest detectable limit of the blood test.

Progesterone maintains healthy features critical for a woman’s well being, like elevating mood, boosting sex drive, using fat better and keeping blood sugar normal.

It’s no wonder when a woman’s progesterone falls they gain weight, feel depressed, and lose interest in sex. But prescribing the right amount of bio-identical progesterone can reverse these troubling symptoms almost overnight.

Bio-identical hormones are critical for men too. Testosterone levels start to drop when men are as young as 30. The symptoms are devastating, and many men experience:

• Loss of drive, energy and ambition

• Inability to achieve and maintain an erection

• Loss of memory and clouded thinking

• Loss of muscle and bone density

• Long-term depression and anxiety

Over the years, thousands of my male patients have turned their lives around by supplementing with bio-identical testosterone. Not only does it slow the aging process, it keeps them feeling strong, masculine and optimistic.

But back to the current problem…

A few US Senators from the biggest drug producing states have introduced a bill that would wipe out your ability to choose bio-identical hormones.

If this legislation passes, federal regulators – NOT your doctor – will decide what medicines you can take. And there will be severe restrictions on what a compounding pharmacist will be able to prepare even if a doctor asks for it for a patient.

The bill would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to:

• Broadly eliminate the availability of many critical, commonly compounded medications that many patients rely on, such as bio-identical hormones for women, hospice care treatments for the terminally ill and customized medicines for children.

• Determine when compounded medicines are needed – a decision that has always been and should always be made by doctors.

• Restrict the compounded medications your doctor can prescribe even if he or she determines you need them.

According to the Washington, D.C. political magazine Congressional Quarterly, the big drug makers are in “high lobby mode” in support of this legislation. But this shouldn’t surprise you… They want doctors and pharmacists to become compliant dispensers of their variety only of potentially toxic patent drugs.

But you don’t have to stand by while the government tries to take away your rights.

Just go to www.healthfreedom.com and click “Stop new bill to restrict access to individualized medicine” on the bottom left of their home page. Then click “What You Can Do” on the right-hand side. You can then fill out one of their forms that go straight to your congressman or senator.

Also, if you would like to see me or my partner Dr. Blossom Kunnel about bio-identical hormone augmentation, contact my practice at (561) 784-7852.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD