Let's talk about something screwed up

Once again, a journalism class is increasing my consciousness of some seriously screwed up business.

I'm writing this feature on ghostwriting in the medical community, and focusing on the oft-sleazy and always profit driven pharmaceutical marketing behind hormone replacement therapy, which is supposed to help women going through menopause. Okay, I've never gone through menopause, and I've heard it's tremendously unpleasant, but check out some of these actual real things Wyeth (the maker of Prempro and Premarin, two major HRT drugs) said and published to sell their products:

-"Menopause isn't gone in a flash-- its debilitating consequences can affect the rest of your life." (This seems a bold thing to say about a natural biological process. Pathologizing the female experience a bit, are we? Biology is destiny!)

-"Almost any tranquilizer might calm her down...but at her age, estrogen may be what she really needs," "aside from keeping a woman sexually attractive and potent, estrogen preserves the strength of her bones, the gow of her skin, the gloss of her hair...Estrogen makes women adaptable, even-tempered, and generally easy to live with." (I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING ABOUT THIS! These two date back to the '70s, but aside from a slight increase in political correctness, this is still the basic marketing shtick Wyeth is using today: convince women that once they hit a natural phase of their life, they're hysterical bleating bitches and need to purchase and consume drugs to mediate the crazy and remain functioning members of society. Fair.)

-Lexicon: "cure" for the "tragedy of menopause"; using "menopause" and "middle-aged depression" synonymously

-[spokesperson:]"My number 1 secret is estrogen. It's good for your moods, it's good for your skin. If I had to choose between all my creams and makeup for feeling and looking good, I'd take estrogen." (This was from 2000, people).

And of course, the most damning marketing move they made was telling women and physicians repeatedly for years that HRT is good for way more than just menopause. Take it to reduce your risk of osteoporosis! Take it to avoid heart disease or colon cancer! Take it to prevent vision problems and tooth loss! Take it for Alzheimer's! The FDA approved none of this and soon the National Institute of Health began a study into whether or not any of it was legit.

And so, not only was all of that bullshit, but, WAIT FOR IT, HRT was also proven to increase the risk of a slew of medical conditions: blood clot risk increased by 200%, strokes by 41%, breast cancer by 26%, and so on.

This is what we get when we characterize as medically abnormal something that is human and naturally occurring, like menopause. It creates the irresistible opportunity to make a market for products that "allow" women to meet some arbitrary standard of normalcy and functionality (constructed and enforced by people who will never endure menopause.) WTF.