Bioidentical hormones are in the news again. And if you’ve been a fan of Dr. Northrup’s for a while, you know that she has been advocating this type of hormone (when needed) for nearly 20 years—long before this issue was on the national radar screen. That’s right. Talk about being ahead of the curve.

Now the debate has shifted from whether women should choose bioidentical hormones to whether they will have any choice in the matter at all. The Food and Drug Administration is considering a ban on estriol, one of the most commonly used bioidentical forms of estrogen, and Dr. Northrup sees a serious threat to women’s freedom of choice.

“I feel very strongly about the use of bioidentical hormones,” Dr. Northrup says. “I don’t want the FDA to ban estriol because once they do this, they’ll start in on other bioidentical hormones as well. Then, when women need hormonal support, all they will be left with are synthetic substitutes that are less effective and also more dangerous! Women deserve the right to the best treatment possible. And that treatment is often based on the wisdom of Mother Nature, not Father Pharmaceutical!

Dr. Northrup cites “Father Pharmaceutical” as the source of the move to suppress bioidentical hormone use. Wyeth Labs, maker of synthetic hormones Premarin and Prempro, is collaborating with the FDA on the assertion that estriol is not a safe alternative to synthetic hormones. “This is ridiculous,” says Dr. Northrup. “The estriol (compounded by pharmacies for individual women) is exactly the same as the estriol produced in abundance in the female body. Estriol has been used in Europe and Japan for hormone replacement for many years.”

The bioidentical hormones that Dr. Northrup endorses are manufactured in the lab to have the same molecular structure as the hormones found in the human body—they are biologically identical. By contrast, the synthetic hormones that pharmaceutical companies create are intentionally different with molecules that are slightly altered. The impact of these molecular differences on the body is still under investigation. Why tamper with Mother Nature? Pharmaceutical companies can’t patent a bioidentical structure. They invent synthetic hormones that can be patented—and profitably marketed. But, asks Dr. Northrup, should economics be allowed to prevail over concern for the best health care?

The FDA challenge to the use of bioidentical estriol is directed at the pharmacies which make up customized hormone prescriptions for individuals. Thousands of pharmacies “compound” their own drugs for patients with a doctor’s prescription for a product not otherwise commercially available. These custom-made compounds allow doctors to prescribe hormone therapy based on a woman’s individual needs. Wyeth Labs argues that the FDA doesn’t regulate these individual hormonal compounds created by the pharmacies. And, to date, the FDA hasn’t tested estriol or approved it for use by pharmaceutical companies.

“Typically, drug trials are conducted so that patients can be informed about a drug’s safety, efficacy, and side effects before it can be marketed in the U.S.,” says Dr. Northrup. “In this case, the FDA and Wyeth are using this as an excuse to scare women into thinking that they will put their health in jeopardy by using any kind of hormone replacement. But research and years of clinical use have already found that estriol is safe and effective!” Dr. Northrup doesn’t want to see women’s health care choices limited nor doctors’ ability to individualize care compromised.

Given a choice between bioidentical hormones or synthetic ones, Dr. Northrup quips that she would trust “the wisdom coming from Mother Nature’s millions of years of experimentation” over “the fifty years of biochemical wizardry from Father Pharmaceutical.” Whether or not a woman chooses to use hormone replacement therapy, bioidentical or synthetic, the important factor is choice—having the freedom to choose her own best health care alternative.