Now let’s end the HRT crisis
Mail’s plea as online pharmacies cash in on shortages
BOOTS was last night accused of profiteering from the HRT crisis as it emerged desperate women are being charged up to £80 for menopause treatment.
MPs last night accused some chemists of ‘exploiting’ women in need of vital supplies, while doctors said firms could be making ‘massive profits’ hiking up prices.
Shortages and poor planning mean thousands have been unable to get treatments to help ease menopause symptoms such as low mood, brain fog and hot flushes.
It comes as the Daily Mail joins our sister paper The Mail On Sunday’s campaign – launched last week – to demand urgent action to tackle the crisis.
Our manifesto calls for pharmacists to be allowed to dispense substitutes if the prescribed HRT is out of stock, an annual payment for HRT and an end to the postcode lottery of approved HRT products,
Labour MP Carolyn Harris, cochairman of the UK menopause taskforce, said: ‘I fully support the Mail’s campaign. It’s high time something was done to improve the lives of thousands of women across the country.’
She called on private clinics to ensure treatments were affordable, saying raising prices was ‘exploitative of women’.
And Jane Pangbourne, founder of the HRT Truth Collective, said: ‘The campaign the Mail has put together seems to be not only timely but also pulls together the key areas in one place.’
Increasing numbers of desperate women are now buying products online at up to eight times the NHS England prescription charge of £9.35 – and one online pharmacy has admitted hiking up the prices of some of its popular HRT products.
Medicines are free in Scotland if patients can present a pharmacist with an NHS prescription.
But women who have resorted to obtaining HRT privately from online pharmacies have to pay.
This has sparked fears that thousands of women could be priced out of crucial treatments just as the cost of living crisis bites – meaning there is fast becoming a twin-track approach to accessing HRT treatment.
Last night the Government announced it is rationing some HRT products to a three-month supply. The move, which will affect Oestrogel, Ovestin cream and Premique low-dose tablets, is the first to address supply issues since the appointment of HRT tsar Madelaine McTernan.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: ‘I want to reassure women I have listened to their concerns and will not hesitate to take decisive action to ensure they can access the HRT they need.’
It comes as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said it was ‘very concerned’ that women were resorting to online pharmacies, many of which are unregistered and could be ‘unsafe as the medication might be out-ofdate, diluted or fake’. Oestrogel, a drug which is used by around 30,000 women in the UK, is particularly low in stock.
While its manufacturer, Besins Healthcare UK, said yesterday it was on track to meet demand in June, there has been a big increase in women seeking HRT, with an estimated 538,000 prescriptions issued in December, compared with 238,000 in January 2017. As a postcode lottery means many are looking online for HRT, some online pharmacies have been found to be selling a three-month supply of Oestrogel for £80.
Prices vary wildly, however, with Oxford Online Pharmacy selling the same product for £49.99.
Pharmacy Planet is rationing its sales of Oestrogel to one-month batches due to ‘limited stock’, but at £42 each. Alternatives to Oestrogel have also taken a hit as women switch to different medication until stocks are replenished.
Treated.com is selling one month’s worth of Estradot patches for £32, although women can normally get a three-month supply for £9.35 on the NHS. The Independent Pharmacy prices a three month-supply of Estradot and Sandrena – an Oestrogel alternative – at £75 respectively.
There is no suggestion these online pharmacies, registered with the Care Quality Commission, are handing out unsafe medicine.
Private prescriptions are not subsidised by the NHS and so are typically more expensive, while pharmacies say overheads and online consultation costs are also factored in. But the wholesale cost for most HRT drugs is usually between £5 to £10.
Haitham Hamoda, chairman of the British Menopause Society, said there appeared to be ‘a massive margin of profit’. He added: ‘Private pharmacies can argue and say it’s their overheads and it’s not subsidised, but why would you need to put that much overhead on what you’re providing?’
James Batson, of Pharmacy Planet, admitted the firm had increased prices for some HRT products ‘around eight weeks ago’ due to rises in wholesale costs. He added: ‘The pricing of our service reflects the true costs that have been incurred.’
A spokesman for The Independent Pharmacy said it maintains ‘a fair market rate’, and Treated.com said prices ‘include a consultation with a UK-registered clinician, dispensing by our UK-regulated pharmacy, next-day delivery and followup care from our clinical team’.
‘Exploitative of women’
FOR millions of women HRT has been nothing short of a Godsend.
Since it was introduced in the 1960s, the drug has transformed the lives of those suffering from the menopause who would otherwise have had to endure misery and discomfort through middle age.
Unprecedented demand however has led to supply issues.
So desperate do some women become to avoid crippling menopausal symptoms that they resort to the black market to secure supplies.
That’s why today, we are joining the Mail On Sunday’s ‘Fix the HRT Crisis’ campaign and call on the Government to make four key changes that will end the menopause misery for good.
One of our demands is to scrap the absurd practice which prevents pharmacists dispensing alternative substitutes if the prescribed HRT is out of stock.
The scandalous HRT postcode lottery, which sees some drugs available only in certain parts of the country, must also cease immediately. We urge Health Secretary Sajid Javid to heed our campaign and end this HRT hell. Britain’s women deserve nothing less.