FW: [VeganWay] PMULines (Anti-Premarin Newsletter from UAN)

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aVoiceForTheVoiceless [bevegantoo]Thursday, 18 January 2001 10:16VeganWay Subject: [VeganWay] PMULines (Anti-Premarin Newsletter from UAN)The Jan/01 issue of PMULines.---<<PMULinesAn e-letter from United Animal Nations with news and updates on thePremarin issue and UAN's anti-Premarin campaign. WELCOME to the sixth edition of PMULines. This newsletter is publishedmonthly by United Animal Nations and we welcome your ideas/tips for futureissues. You've been put on this e-mail list because of your concern forthe Premarin mares and foals. If you know of a friend who'd like to or if you'd like to , please send an e-mail toinfo. In This Issue*Beef for Horsemeat: Mad Cow Disease Spurs Demand for Horsemeat*Health Insurance Companies Try to "Silently Switch" Women onto Premarin*UAN "I've Switched" (Off Premarin) Campaign Seeks Recruits in 50 States*UAN Seeking Information on U.S. PMU Barns*Yet Another Market for Premarin: Crossdressers? 1. TRADING BEEF FOR HORSEMEAT? MAD COW DISEASE INCREASES DEMAND FORHORSEMEAT IN EUROPEA recent news report out of London reveals a startling trend: horsemeatisshowing up on more European dinner plates as the mad cow disease crisiscreates panic among meateaters and prompts Europeans to avoid eatingcattle. Horsemeat has long been considered a delicacy in European countries suchas France, Belgium, Germany and Italy (that's where many of the Premarinfoals tragically end up after they are fattened up at the feedlots inCanada.) However, The Guardian (a British newspaper) reported in Decemberthat horsemeat is becoming even more popular as Europeans shun beef theyfear is infected with bovine spongiform encephaolopathy (BSE), also knownas the "mad cow disease." The newspaper quoted sources with Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), aBritish-based farm animal welfare group, which had tracked an alarmingrise in the demand for horsemeat. CIWF reported that the number ofslaughtered ponies and horses being shipped from Britain to France,Belgium and other countries had already doubled by 1999 while sales ofbeef (cattle) in France had dropped by over 40 percent in recent weeks. Unfortunately, the mad cow disease will likely increase demand forPremarin foals and other horses who are being slaughtered in North Americaand shipped overseas to be eaten. A recent Internet post reported thathorsemeat is now even being sold at a Walmart in Germany! UAN has beenworking with an Austrian group, Vier Pfoten, on its anti-Premarincampaignand will continue to work with this group and others to educate Europeansabout the Premarin industry and the cruelty behind the horsemeat they'reeating. 2. HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES TRY TO "SILENTLY SWITCH" WOMEN TO PREMARINA United Animal Nations member recently sent us a copy of a newsletterfrom her health insurance company, Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvaniaand Pennsylvnia Blue Shield, which revealed that the company had recentlychanged its "drug formulary" (drugs which it agreed to provide coveragefor) to exclude Cenestin (one of the new plant-based alternatives toPremarin). The newlsetter states that the "covered alternative" forCenestin is now Premarin. The reason given for "the switch" is that thecompany is trying to provide more "cost-effective prescription drugbenefits" for its customers. Members who don't make the switch, thenewsletter goes on to state, will have to pay the full price for theirprescription without any insurance coverage. UAN is sending a letter of protest to this insurance company, pointingoutthat women's healthcare choices are about more than cost and efficiency.(Premarin is probably cheaper for this and other insurance companies toprovide because of the rebates and other deals Wyeth-Ayerst offershealthcare providers, perks that were revealed in the recent anti-trustlawsuit filed against the company.) We'll also point out, of course, thatwomen should be fully informed about the source of Premarin, namely thatit comes from estrogens extracted from the urine of pregnant mares. If your health insurance provider is trying to limit your hormonereplacement options to Premarin, please let us know (send an email toinfo with contact information for the company) and we'll contactthem as well. You should also send your own letter of protest andchallenge the switch. Drug formularies are always subject to change and ifenough women protest, they will change their policy. (We've seen thishappen after UAN, several of its members and women throughout Washingtonstate protested a "silent switch" to Premarin made by a health careprovider in that state.) NOTE: To find out what drugs are covered by your plan, ask your providerfor a copy of its "drug formulary." You can often find this list on thecompany's website or in brochures or other pamphlets that are sent to youin the mail. You can also call your provider's customer service line torequest a copy. 3. UAN'S "I'VE SWITCHED" CAMPAIGN SEEKS RECRUITS IN ALL 50 STATES: HELPUS MAKE OUR PROTEST NATIONWIDEAs part of our 2001 Anti-Premarin Campaign, UAN has made it our goal togain recruits for our "I've Switched" (off Premarin) Campaign in all 50U.S. states. We already have more than 300 recruits in 34 states (all ofwhom have received a free copy of our "I've Switched" pin) but areespecially looking for new recruits in states we haven't yet heard from.Those include:Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi,North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont,West Virginia and Wyoming. If you know of someone in one of these states who is taking Premarin,please encourage them to make the switch in consultation with theirdoctor. (You can encourage them to visit our website at www.uan.org formore background information on the Premarin issue or send us their addressand we'll send them one of our Premarin brochures.) Or, better yet, if youknow of someone living in one of these states who has already made theswitch, please send us their name or encourage them to contact us andwe'll send them off an "I've Switched" pin in honor of their support ofthe Premarin mares and foals. 4. UAN SEEKING INFORMATION ON U.S. PMU BARNSAnother focus of UAN's 2001 Anti-Premarin Campaign will be to identifythelocation of PMU barns in the United States and to begin an investigationinto the conditions of mares held in these barns as well as the fate ofthe Premarin foals born to these horses. We recently heard from a UAN member who lives in Southern California whowas able to adopt a Premarin mare (only two years old and already pregnantand lame) from a barn in Indiana simply by following up on anadvertisement she had seen in a horse publication and asking where thehorse came from. The farmer told her that he had had the mare on a "peeline" at a nearby barn he contracts with but she was no longer neededbecause he had enough horses and she was lame. (The mare is now recoveringat her new home in Southern California, and UAN will be exploring optionsfor rescuing other mares and foals from this barn with the help of thiscaring UAN member.) The Minnesota-based company Natural Biologics has reportedly contractedwith at least 40 farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Nebraska and Northand South Dakota to collect horse urine. (Note: Natural Biologics hasn'tyet gotten FDA approval to produce a "generic" Premarin in the UnitedStates but is apparently confident that will happen in the near futurebased on millions it has spent on its plant and contracts with thefarmers.) If you've heard about a PMU barn in any of the states listed above or seeinformation in an advertisement or newspaper article, please let us know.We'll do our best to find out how the mares are being treated and whetherwe can save any of the foals. 5. YET ANOTHER MARKET FOR PREMARIN: CROSSDRESSERS?In the most bizarre use we've seen yet for Premarin, the scuttlebut onsome Internet sites is that Premarin is being used by transgenderindividuals (and crossdressers) as a hormone to increase their feminineattributes. Some of these individuals are apparently buying Premarinwithout a prescription over the Internet (from foreign sources) whileothers are getting prescriptions under the treatment of a medicalprofessional. This undoubtedly isn't a market that Wyeth-Ayerst willpublicly promote. But it's a safe bet they don't mind making profits offyet another market for their drug. HAVE A TIP OR INFORMATION TO SHARE FOR A FUTURE ISSUE OF PMULines? Sendan email to info.>>---------"The decision that has led millions of people to stop eating other animalsis not rooted in arid adherence to diet or dogma, but in the desire toeliminate the kinds of experiences that using animals for food confersuponbeings with feelings. The human commitment to harmony, justice, peace,andlove is ironic as long as we continue to support the suffering and shameofthe slaughterhouse and its satellite operations." Karen Davis, Ph.D (President of United Poultry Concerns)---------Get email at your own domain with Mail. http://personal.mail./