Perhaps it's more an issue in Oz and maybe the US but very little compound prescribing of hormones is done in the UK. But yes it's very good advice to be wary of what you invest in.
My doctor uses this pharmacy and as you can see they won't sell to the public as you need a BMA doctors prescription.
http://www.customised4upharmacy.co.ukIt's not possible to regulate the compounded hormones industry (whether it's being prescribed by a top class BMA doctor or someone less reputable, perhaps in other countries where it's allowed) due to them being freshly made each time. I am a hypnotherapist and our industry also cannot be regulated due to its nature, which is deeply frustrating for us (so I have had to also train in psychotherapy to align myself with the UKCP). It isn't so bad now but we used to get a lot of bad press being assumed as charlatans who were conning people. Perhaps if those people had known the high cost and length of our training (which you can only do privately and this would be the same for docs and bespoke hormones) we would have been idiots to have paid out thousands and spent 3 years plus training (and CPD that never stops) so that we could go and rip off the general public for a few quid?!
So my point is that it's wrong to tar a whole industry with the same brush as you will be throwing the baby out with the bath water. People just need to do their research to ensure they are using quality doctors and products. If the NHS, which of course everyone should try first, can provide what a patient needs then that should be explored first. My endo doc actually has the products on her website to ask NHS docs for (oestrogel, Utrogestan etc) if they cannot afford private treatment (and I advise my clients of the NHS CBT service in the same way) and this transparency is what any decent practitioner should be doing.
Marketing companies would throw their hands up at us doing that though, but ethics should come first!
