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One Response to “Re: Premarin article”

1. admin says:

   November 21, 2009 at 1:22 pm

   In article <Cun2AA….@tfs.com>, poy…@tfs.com (David Poyner) says:
   

   >Nancy VonStein (nvonst…@cc.memphis.edu) wrote:
   >: There was an article posted here about a month ago about the collection
   >: of Premarin.  I thought I had kept it but can’t find it now.  If anyone
   >: can send me that article, I would appreciate it greatly.

   >I heard the horror story second-hand. It’s made from mares’ urine and the
   >poor things are kept in cages in Canada, yes? I’d appreciate a re-post if
   >anyone could oblige.

   ——————————————————
   Subject: PETA Article On Abuse of Horses To Produce Premarin

   Premarin stands for PREgnant MARes UrINe.

   ————————– Message Contents ——————————     –

   Taken from PETA’s "Premarin Menopause Drug Nightmare" brochure.

   As the "Baby Boomer" generation matures, and more and more women find
   themselves undergoing "The change of life," many will be advised by
   their doctors to take an estrogen replacement drug to alleviate
   menopausal symptoms.  But the drug most commonly prescribed has at
   least one ugly side effect: cruelty.

   The drug is Premarin, an estrogen substitute extracted from the urine
   of pregnant mares.  It is routinely prescribed for women who have had
   hysterectomies or are experiencing menopausal symptoms, and also for
   post-menopausal women to prevent osteoporosis and heart disease.  With
   an estimated eight million women currently taking the drug, and some
   43,000,000 women entering menopause,, the pregnant mare urine (PMU)
   industry is booming.

   While this spells profits for Canada-based Ayerst Organics, Inc., the
   world’s only producer of PMU, it also spells misery and death for
   hundreds of thousands of horses and foals.

   To produce the drug, mares are impregnated, then catheterized or fitted
   with a rubber collection cup attached to a hose.  Because allowing
   mares out to pasture would mean losing some of their precious urine,
   they are forced to stand on concrete floors in stalls measuring just 8
   feet long and 3.5 to 5 feet wide for most of their 11-month
   pregnancies.

   For more than half the year — from September to April — the mares
   are unable to take more than a step in any direction, the narrowness
   of their stall preventing even such simple movements ads turning
   around or lying down properly.  Farmers who have leased their horses
   to PMU facilities report mares returning crippled and in poor health,
   and one former farm employee documented several deaths on the Manitoba
   farm where he worked.

   After giving birth, the mares are allowed only 2 months to pasture
   with their foals, during which time they are reimpregnated, then
   separated from their babies, and put back on the production line.

   Like calves taken away from their "dairy cow" mothers to be raised for
   veal, the mares’ foals are merely a "by-product" of PMU production.
   Some are killed immediately, others are kept as replacements for
   worn-out mares or to expand production;  the majority are sold when
   they are about four months old, sent to feedlots to be fattened, and
   then slaughtered.

   The cruelty of the PMU industry has caused an outcry from North
   Americans, including animal rights activists and women’s groups.
   Problems with the manufacturing process, especially the disposal of
   its foul-smelling waste products, worry Canadian environmentalists
   and legislators.  Proposed expansion at Ayerst’s Manitoba production
   facility threatens to overwhelm and already taxed sewage treatment
   system.  In addition, according to Marianne Cerilli, member of the
   Legislative Assembly and Environment Critic for the Canadian New
   Democratic Party, the expansion has "serious consequences for the
   Assinboine River, a river that many Manitobans use as a drinking water
   source."  Hormone therapy itself is coming under increasing scrutiny
   because of possible health risks.  Studies have shown that women on
   hormone replacement drugs have an increased risk of gall bladder
   disease and endometrial and breast cancers and suffer a range of side
   effects, such as water retention, cramps, and headaches.

   Since synthetic estrogen can now be manufactured inexpensively,
   collecting PMU is an antiquated method of producing estrogen.
   Premarin is the only menopause drug still made with animal-derived
   estrogen, and other synthetic estrogens, such as Estradiol
   Transdermal System, Estradiol tablets, Estropipate, and Estone, are
   equally effective.

   In response to Canadian animal protectionists, who were success ful in
   shutting down the PMU industry in Ontario during the 1970’s, the
   industry devised a Recommended Code of Practice, which outlines basic
   care for horses used for urine production.  However, this code merely
   contains recommendations — no farmer is required to follow them —
   and even these basic standards are so weak they fail to provide
   horses with even minimal protection.

   In 1993, an estimated 75,000 mares on 485 farms throughout Canada and
   North Dakota were confined for urine collection, giving birth to as
   many as 90,000 foals — and the number may triple in the next few
   years if women continue to want non-synthetic treatments.  Already,
   another 1,200 farms have applied to produce PMU, for which they are
   paid up to $17 a gallon.  Ayerst is preparing for a $100 million
   expansion of its facilities in Manitoba with the aid of $20 million
   form the Canadian government.

   WHAT YOU CAN DO:
   =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

   - Write a simple letter to a health/women’s magazine and your local
   paper explaining how mare’s urine is acquired an that there are safe
   synthetics available.

   - Because of th possible health risks associated with hormone
   replacement, women who are candidates for this therapy may want to
   investigate natural alternatives.  Osteoporosis and heart disease can
   be prevented with a low-fat vegan (no animal products) diet, and
   milder, less potent plant forms of estrogen exist naturally in such
   foods as tofu, berries, and citrus fruits.  Those who opt for hormone
   replacement therapy can ask their doctors to prescribe one of the
   synthetic estrogens.

   - Boycott Ayerst’s parent company, American Home Products / Whitehall
   Laboratories, manufacturer of Dristan, Advil, Chef Boyardee, and many
   other products.  Also, write to Robert Essner, President, Wyeth-Ayerst
   Laboratories, P.O. Box 8299, Philadelphia, P.A. 19101, 215-971-5823 to
   voice your protest.

   - Write to the Manitoba government (The Honourable Hananne Cerilli,
   Room 234, Legislative Building, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 0V8, Canada,
   204-945-1567), protesting their funding of Ayerst’s expansion and
   telling them you will not visit the province as long as it continues
   to fund cruelty to horses.

   -You can also send away to PETA (P.O. Box 42516, Washington, DC 20015,
   (301) 770-PETA ) for copies of the brochure that this information was
   taken from to help spread the news (the brochure also includes
   information on natural approaches to hormone shifts and synthetic
   hormones).

   ——————–End Original Message—————————-

   Further suggestion:

   -Call Women’s International Pharamacy at (800) 279-5708 for
   alternative natural estrogen cream (Tri-Est) balanced to protect
   against breast cancer.  Testosterone gel and natural progesterone
   also available.

   ———————————————————————-

   Date:    Sat, 16 Jul 1994 10:31:19 +0000
   From:    Michael Traub <tr…@BTCS.BT.CO.UK>
   Subject: Horse Urine and Hot Flashes (fwd)

   The following article appeared in the June 1994 (Volume
   1, Number 2) issue of Bulletin, a publication of the
   Animal Protection Institute (API). For further
   information about API, call 1-800-348-7387.
   ===========================================
   Horse Urine and Hot Flashes

   As many as 90,000 foals a year are slaughtered because
   they are the unwanted "by-product" of a multi-million-
   dollar drug industry. The foals’ mothers endure a bleak
   life on a production line for most of their pregnant
   months.

   That’s what API found out when it investigated
   conditions on farms that supply one drug company with
   the urine of pregnant mares. The urine is used by
   Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories to manufacture Premarin, an
   estrogen (hormone) replacement drug used by millions of
   post-menopausal women.

   In the pregnant mare urine (PMU) industry, this abuse
   of the mares and their foals is overshadowed by the
   huge profits to be made. In 1992, sales of Premarin
   amount to $642 million, accounting for 14 percent of
   Wyeth-Ayerst’s $4.5 billion revenue.

   Five hundred PMU farms in North Dakota and Manitoba
   (Canada) supply the urine for Wyeth-Ayerst’s processing
   plant in Brandon, Manitoba. The farms average 300
   horses each.

   Four months into her pregnancy, the mare is brought
   into a stall and fitted with a catheter or a collection
   cup. (A cup attached to the catheter collects her
   urine.) This is how she will spend the next 7 months.

   So that her urine will be as concentrated as possible,
   she receives only 5 gallons of water per day. (Up to
   $17 per gallon will be paid for the urine.) Normal
   water intake for a horse is 12 to 15 gallons per day;
   pregnant horses usually require more.

   After the mare gives birth in late March or early
   April, she will have two months with her foal to wean
   it. Then she is impregnated again. Her foal is sold to
   the slaughterhouse. (Only a handful of the foals are
   spared slaughter.) By September, the mare is back in
   her stall and on the catheter.

   On the worst farms, the stalls are so narrow the mares
   can’t turn around or lie down. Dr. Marc W. Deitch,
   Wyeth-Ayerst’s Vice President, Medical Affairs and
   Medical Director, has apparently never seen nor heard
   of the worst farms. "Horses are in now way mistreated,"
   says his form-letter response to all queries about the
   abuse of the pregnant mares. "The farmers provide
   temperature-controlled stalls that are large enough for
   the mares to move about and lie down comfortably."

   On the worst farms, the mare wears a catheter and a
   collection cup. Not so, maintains Dr. Deitch: "The
   …

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