The Estrogen Replacement Controversy in the USA and UK: Different Answers to the Same Question?

Abstract

Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) is a widely prescribed but controversial treatment for menopausal and postmenopausal symptoms. Our research shows that the dispute over menopausal estrogens has developed quite differently in the United States and Great Britain. For each country we examine claims made by physicians, feminists and consumers, regulatory bodies, and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as the claims of researchers. For each group the United States and British position on ERT is opposite, one country favouring the therapy, the other opposing its use. Yet within each country ERT stances are not consistent: feminists oppose physician practices, and physician practice is in opposition to research conclusions. Our comparative design allows us to conclude that for each country the positions of various interests, and their systematic opposition to one another, are the outcome of political, ideological and economic relations.