Doctor accused of risking women’s health with ‘alarming’ HRT doses
A LEADING menopause doctor has been accused of putting women’s health at risk with ‘alarmingly high’ doses of hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Dr Louise Newson’s private clinic, Newson Health – which sees 4,000 patients a month – is said to regularly prescribe HRT doses that exceed licensed amounts, The Mail on Sunday can disclose.
Regulators allow this but experts say doctors should only offer higher than licensed doses in exceptional cases due to the potential risks, which include womb cancer. Newson Health allegedly offers this kind of treatment to one in five patients.
HRT tops up levels of key female hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, as they start to fall as women enter menopause.
Dr Newson argues high doses are sometimes needed to tackle serious menopause-related mental health problems and suicidal thoughts.
The MoS launched an investigation after NHS doctors said they had seen women who had developed health problems after being prescribed high HRT doses at Dr Newson’s clinic.
One has been diagnosed with womb cancer, although it’s not known if the drugs caused it. Others developed endometrial hyperplasia – an abnormal thickening of the womb lining which can be a precursor to cancer.
NHS doctors were also threatened with legal letters by the clinic for questioning Dr Newson’s expertise in consultations with patients. The clinic could not comment on individual cases but a spokesman said: ‘There is no reliable clinical evidence available that indicates proof of harm caused by different doses of HRT prescribed.’ However, consultant gynaecologist Haitham Hamoda said: ‘Without evidence to confirm the safety of higher doses, a treatment should not be described as not harmful.’
Newson Health said: ‘It is essential to safeguard a diverse range of views within medicine and, as the UK’s leading menopause clinic, Newson Health utilises a wealth of clinical experience and data, as well as the available scientific evidence, to treat every patient on an individualised basis, to provide women the best possible menopause care.’