Opinion Piece Criticizes Winfrey For 'Unbalanced' Medical Advice On Hormone Replacement Therapy

Main Category: Menopause
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 19 May 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Oprah Winfrey "has scored good ratings with her health episodes" of her television show, but "in doing so, she seems to have thrown therapeutic caution to the wind," such as on her shows featuring actress Suzanne Somers' opinions on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, Salon contributor and physician Rahul Parikh writes in an opinion piece. Somers, while advocating for the use of bioidentical HRT as a safe alternative to traditional HRT for postmenopausal women, said she used "mega-doses of bioidenticals continuously and aggressively," according to Parikh. Parikh writes that Somers, on television and in her 2007 book, "argues that these hormones are more natural, more effective and safer than what doctors prescribe." According to Parikh, "In reality, ... there are no good medical studies to back up those claims."

Parikh says that although "what Somers was advocating was radically different from standards of medical care," Winfrey "was not concerned" and even said that Somers "'might be a pioneer,'" Parikh continues. Winfrey billed the episode as part of a "'great debate'" on hormone therapy, but she "didn't ask about whether [Somers'] super-hormone regimen could have contributed to Somers' history of breast cancer"; "her hysterectomy, the result of pre-cancerous changes in her uterus from her use of HRT"; or the "validity of Somers' book's sources, many of whom are neither experts in women's health or endocrinology, nor board-certified physicians, nor experienced researchers," Parikh states. He adds, "It's not that Winfrey doesn't try to maintain medical credibility in her shows," but "her efforts seem subpar," noting that her show "reaches millions of people, while each doctor can reach only one patient at a time." Parikh concludes, "That could easily be corrected by Winfrey providing more thought and balance in her medical advice" (Parikh, Salon, 5/15).

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