Wanna make a difference?

The FDA is about to hold its "Expert Panel on Menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy for Women." The more of us who show up on the YouTube livestream next week, the better.

In a time when government is slashing research budgets, spreading measles, and compelling scientists to hold a literal mock science fair on Capitol Hill just to show all of the studies they will no longer be able to complete, it was nice to learn today, via urologist Dr. Rachel Rubin, that we can all do our part in the battle for women’s health this Thursday, July 17, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm EST, simply by being a good foot soldier and showing up on a livestream on the FDA’s YouTube channel. The more eyeballs joining that panel, the better; the more questions we ask, the more the FDA will understand how critical hormones are to our bodies and health, not only to women of menopausal age but also to the partners who love us.

Meaning, men? If you’re in a physical relationship with a woman who is 45+ years old; or if the two of you will soon be entering that age bracket; or if you have a mother, sister, or other family member who happens to that age, we’re going to need your eyeballs and support, too. Here are the key links:

1. FDA page, announcing the panel (in person participation is now closed, but you can still join the livestream.)

2. The FDA YouTube channel

One of the key issues facing doctors prescribing vaginal estrogen is the ongoing scourge of the drug’s black box labeling, warning it causes all kinds of ailments—stroke, heart attacks, blood clots, and probable dementia—it definitely does not cause. Another issue, for patients, is the outrageous cost of the various estrogens, whether systemic or vaginal, especially when compared to the low cost of Viagra. It’s no secret that vaginal estrogen changed my life. But it shouldn’t have taken Dr. Rubin reaching out over twitter several years ago to elicit that change.

Also, for the bean counters out there, prescribing vaginal estrogen makes simple economic sense. Somewhere between 6 and 22 billion dollars a year in Medicare savings are being lost treating chronic ailments older women need not have had someone simply prescribed them a small tube of vaginal estrogen.

Should you want more information on this panel, estrogen, GSM, or so much more, please follow Dr. Rachel Rubin, who will be participating in the panel, on her Instagram page.

drrachelrubin

A post shared by @drrachelrubin

And also look: I’ll be on vacation next week in Maine for a friend’s 60th. Thursday, the day of this panel, is supposed to be 69 degrees and sunny. The plan was to go boating or some such. But I will definitely and dutifully head back on land at 12:55 pm and step inside to join the panel via the livestream at 1 pm, and I hope you will, too. At this point, getting estrogen into the hands of women who need it still feels like grassroots effort run primarily by a bunch of tireless physician advocates and various new companies sprouting up in the menopause space. Here’s an opportunity for us patients—those of us who actually need and use vaginal estrogen and would like it to be affordable and easy to access instead of expensive and impossible—to show the FDA that we are a growing army. And that, like Glenn Close, we can no longer be ignored.