from United Animal Nations -
info@uan.org
Women Prefer Cruelty-Free Alternatives When Told
Pregnant Mares and Foals Suffer to Produce Popular Hormone Replacement
Drug.
SACRAMENTO, CA (February 6) - A new survey of nearly 500
women age 40 and over shows that medical professionals aren't telling
most American women that Premarin -- the most commonly prescribed
hormone replacement drug in the United States -- is made with estrogens
derived from the
urine of pregnant mares.
The survey, conducted by Zogby International, also
reveals that most women would prefer to take an alternative to Premarin
once they know that tens of thousands of pregnant mares suffer every
year to produce this drug. The number of women who object to Premarin
increases even more once they know that the majority of baby foals born
to these mares are discarded for slaughter as an annual "byproduct" of
Premarin production.
"This survey shows just how critical our education
effort is on the Premarin issue," said Jeane Westin, president of United
Animal Nations (UAN), a nationwide animal advocacy and rescue group
based in Sacramento, California, which commissioned the survey. "More
and more prescriptions are being written for Premarin and no one is
telling women where this drug comes from." Manufactured by Wyeth-Ayerst,
Premarin is taken by an estimated 9 million American women and those
numbers are predicted to escalate as millions of baby boomers reach
menopause during the next decade.
"Evidence clearly indicates that Premarin users face
increased risk of breast cancer," says Neal D. Barnard, M.D., president
of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "In fact, there's
no reason to take Premarin. Diet and other lifestyle choices are much
healthier and more powerful over the long run. However, women looking
for a hormone replacement therapy product will find many effective
alternatives to Premarin."
The survey, which was conducted via telephone by Zogby
International, asked women ages 40 and over if they were aware that
Premarin and other like-sounding hormone replacement therapies such as
PremPro and Premphase (which are used to treat menopausal symptoms) are
derived from the urine of pregnant horses. About half of the respondents
(231 women of the 487 respondents or 47 percent) said they were not
aware of the source of Premarin while only 31 percent (less than a third
of the respondents) said they were very aware of where Premarin comes
from.
When asked if their doctor or other medical professional
had told them that there were various alternatives available to Premarin,
by more than two to one respondents said they hadn't been told about
cruelty-free plant-based and synthetic options. (Sixty-three percent of
respondents, or 309 women, said they hadn't been told that options were
available while only 30 percent or 147 respondents said their doctors
had shared this information with them.)
When respondents were told that tens of thousands of
pregnant mares are forced to stand in small stalls, with a urine
collection device hooked to them, for as many as six months out of every
year to produce Premarin, a majority of respondents (53 percent or 255
women) said they would choose a plant-based or synthetic treatment as
opposed to Premarin. That percentage increased to 54 percent (265 women)
when respondents were told that the majority of foals born to these
mares are sent to slaughter, their meat shipped overseas to Europe and
Japan to be eaten.
Animal advocates, including members of United Animal
Nations, have been working to spread the message about Premarin for
years. However, they are fighting a long-established industry
(Wyeth-Ayerst has been producing Premarin in Canada since 1942) and its
close connections with the medical
and insurance community. (Wyeth-Ayerst is currently facing an anti-trust
lawsuit filed by a competitor, Duramed, based on the administrative
rebates and fees it offers doctors and insurers who limit their
prescriptions to Premarin.)
The industry also has increased its use and abuse of
horses in recent years with the opening of a new "pregnant mares' urine"
(PMU) plant in Minnesota by Natural Biologics. This company has applied
for a permit from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to produce a
generic version of Premarin and is already contracting with more than 40
farmers throughout the midwestern United States to keep pregnant mares
hooked to urine collection devices.
"The PMU industry has a vested interest in keeping women
hooked on hormone replacement that is derived from horse urine," said
Dr. Nancy Harrison, a UAN board member from San Diego. "Our goal is to
ensure that women aren't kept in the dark about the needless suffering
of the horses or about successful alternatives that would end their
suffering."
"Wyeth-Ayerst is misleading and deceiving women by
withholding important information," said Dr. Paula Rothman, a
gynecologist specializing in reproductive endocrinology in the Atlanta,
Georgia area who offers alternatives to Premarin to her patients. "We
need to do a better job educating women about the needless suffering of
PMU horses and the many safe, effective and more natural forms of ERT
that would end the suffering of the innocent."
For more information about United Animal Nations and its
anti-Premarin campaign visit the website at
www.uan.org or for a complete copy of the survey results contact UAN,
P.O. Box 188890, Sacramento, CA 95818, Tel: (916) 429-2457, email:
info@uan.org.
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