You will notice something new on the blog----

On the right side of the page.......it's the links to two important websites that you need to avail yourself of if you are considering seeing a new doctor.


The first is the American Federation of State Medical Boards, and this site will give you a link to each of the 50 state medical boards in the United States. Here in Charlotte, we had several people who were quite disfigured by a doctor who, when researched by the local media, was on probation with the state medical board for multiple violations. He has now lost his medical license, but that doesn't help those who he harmed. Because biodientical hormone replacement therapy is a medical protocol that is quickly gaining popularity, many women are now in the process of seeking a new physician to take care of them, and it is absolutely imperative to check a doctor's status with his state medical board. I know of one well known bioidentical hormone physician who is on probation with his medical board for misconduct. If you think it can't happen to you, it can.

I had a lady contact me last week, and she had been to a doctor who was advertised in Suzanne Somer's book "Ageless". The doctor had charged her a considerable amount of money for two visits, and then was pushing her to have a full course of a therapy that is very controversial and has been discredited for general use (it does have some very limited uses in dire situations) by the National Institute of Health. She gave me the doctor's name, so I did a little checking. The doctor was not in any trouble with his state medical board. I decided to check and see if he was a board certified physician (and for an overview of why it's important to choose a board certified doctor, click here) with the American Board of Medical Specialties. He was certified ---- in Psychiatry!!!! Pardon the pun, but that's nuts! My own hormone physician is board certified in Internal Medicine, and a number of BHRT physicians are board certified in OB/GYN, Family Medicine, and Endocrinology.

I decided to look a little further, and so I spent some time over the course of several days checking the board certification status of the doctors listed in Ms. Somer's book. I was and wasn't surprised, of the 55 doctors I checked, 24 were not board certified at all (including one of the doctors who has appeared on both Oprah and the Dr. Phil show!). Of the ones who were, several were in specialties that I would not consider relevant to bioidentical hormone balancing, including: opthamology, dermatology, pediatrics, and more than one instance of psychiatry. Not being board certified, or being board certified in a specialty that is irrelevant, raises red flags for me and it should for you.

Most of the practitioners of BHRT are to be commended for thinking outside the box, learning about a protocol that can immeasurably increase the health and quality of life for their patients. Like anything else, however, there are doctors and a few compounding pharmacies who are trying to make a quick buck off sick, desperate women. I get at least one email a week from someone who is incurring some sort of a problem with a BHRT doctor or pharmacy. I don't want that happening to my blog readers, so please----if you are going to begin care with a new doctor, please take the time to do a little research on his/her credentials. If you need a list of resources to find a compounding pharmacy and/or doctor in your area, please feel free to email me.