Doctors told women to use this medicine for menopause. Pharmacies can’t keep it in stock

For almost a year, women have struggled to find estrogen patches to treat their menopause symptoms. They’ve called dozens of pharmacies to find them in stock, driven to neighboring cities to pick them up and even procured them from friends who had extras.

And for almost a year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has told women there is no shortage of patches, even as the American Society of Health Care Pharmacists documents that there are almost 20 estrogen patch formulations impacted by the shortage, double the number from earlier this year.

Now the FDA has acknowledged that many women are not able to get their estrogen patches and its leaders are working with six manufacturers to increase supply. This includes companies adding manufacturing shifts, increasing batch sizes, and prioritizing production of estradiol patches.

In the meantime, the FDA is telling women to talk to their pharmacist or doctor about options.

Women aren’t ready to applaud the announcement, saying the FDA should have declared a shortage which could incentivize manufacturers to increase production faster.

“When we met with representatives at the FDA in April, they made it clear they knew women weren’t able to get patches. It took four months…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/life/