Does That Mean Compounded Bioidentical Hormones Are Safer?
“There is no reason to think that these bioidentical compounded [products] would have a different safety profile than the FDA-approved ones,” Uhl says. She points out that some compounded pharmacies have gotten warning letters from the FDA for false and misleading claims about safety and other benefits. Isaac Schiff, MD, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital, agrees. Schiff led an American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) committee that reviewed the scientific evidence on compounded bioidentical hormone therapy in 2005. That committee concluded that there wasn’t scientific evidence to support claims of increased efficacy or safety for compounded estrogen or progesterone regimens. The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) and the Endocrine Society have issued similar statements. “It may be safer, but that study hasn’t been done yet,” Schiff tells WebMD. He says he would like to see a large, lengthy, rigorously designed study on the topic. “I’m
