ShopNBC’s Suzanne Somers And HSN’s Lauren Hutton Figure Prominently In New York Times Story On Big Pharma And Menopause Drugs

Illustration from New York Times story on controversy over Big Pharma and menopausal drugs

Former HSN vendor Suzanne Somers, who is now on ShopNBC, and current HSN beauty vendor Lauren Hutton are both featured Sunday in a New York Times story on menopausal hormone drugs.

The business story is headlined “Menopause, As Brought To You By Big Pharma,” and it chronicles the history and litigation revolving around drugs such as Prempro, a hormone drug made by pharm giant Wyeth.

According to The Times, more than 13,000 poeple have filed suit against Wyeth charging that its menopause drugs caused breast cancer and other medical problems.

Hutton, a former model who now sells a makeup line for women over 40 on HSN, appeared in commercials for Prempro.

According to The Times, in one spot Hutton said, “My doctor said if you don’t replace estrogen that you lose at menopause, your risk for certain age-related diseases could increase.”

The very end of the lengthy story talks about actress-best-selling-author Somers’ and her advocacy of so-called “bio-identical hormones” in her books “The Sexy Years” and “Ageless.”

“With sales of more than 2 million books, Ms. Somers has become a menopause guru to millions,” The Times writes.

But newspaper also quotes Dr. Lynne Shuster, director of the women’s health clinic at the Mayo Clinic, who argues that bio-identical hormones haven’t been studied in depth and don’t have approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Formerly Itchy, Bitchy, Sweaty Suzanne Somers

In an interview with The Times, 63-year-old Somers defended the hormones as safe, and provided the newspaper with stories from medical journals in support of her position.

Somers also takes credit in The Times story for “making the word ‘menopause’ mentionable.”

The blonde Somers, who moved her line of jewelry, clothes and nutritional items to ShopNBC after 17 years at HSN, also has described in detail what menopause without hormone replacement meant for her.

According to The Times, Somers says that she suffered “The Seven Dwarves of Menopause,” namely “Itchy, Bitchy, Sweaty, Sleepy, Bloated, Forgetful, All Dried Up.”

Too much information, girlfriend. Too much information.

Somers’ books often spark controversy and put her at odds with the medical establishment. Her latest tome, “Knockout: Interviews With Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer, And How To Prevent Getting It In The First Place,” created a firestorm and drew criticism from the American Cancer Society.

But “Knockout” is “a No. 1 NY Times bestseller,” according to Somers’ Web site.