Ed Silverman, STAT News, November 21, 2024
A dozen experts on women’s health are demanding the Federation of State Medical Boards remove a new documentary about menopause from its continuing medical education program over concerns the movie makes misleading and inaccurate statements about menopausal therapies.
The film, called “The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause,” was released several weeks ago and can be seen on the Public Broadcasting System. Nearly an hour long, the documentary attempts to cover a host of issues surrounding menopause — from scientific causes and medical research to historical cultural views, racial disparities in health care, and medications that are prescribed.
The Federation of State Medical Boards, a nonprofit that represents dozens of state boards around the U.S., accredited the film for physicians. This means they can gain needed continuing medical education credit if they watch the film along with a webinar that includes a discussion of the subject. Some of the webinar speakers also appeared in the film.
But the group of academics and researchers argued in a Nov. 8 letter to the organization that the documentary contains “non-stop, dangerous disinformation.” And they urged the national nonprofit to retract the accreditation, remove the film from its website, and revoke any continuing education credits that have been granted to physicians.
“This documentary film makes numerous unsupported claims, including recommendations for off-label uses of menopausal hormone therapy that are unsupported by evidence, and is rife with misinformation, including statements that directly contradict warnings in FDA-approved product labeling,” they wrote. “A major concern is that this film could lead to unsafe and ineffective prescribing.”
A spokesman for the Federation of State Medical Boards sent us a note saying, “we thank the authors of the letter for bringing this to our attention. The matter is under review.” We asked PBS for comment and will update you accordingly.
A spokeswoman for the producers and director wrote us a note to say the purpose of the film is to “empower women and their families with information to make informed health decisions during perimenopause and menopause. … Our goal is to amplify women’s voices and equip them with the knowledge and resources needed to navigate these complexities with confidence.
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Menopausal hormone therapies use estrogen, progesterone, or both to replace the hormones a woman stops producing following menopause. But there have been conflicting views and controversy about the benefits and risks — which can depend on such factors as age and length of treatment — ever since a federal funded series of studies called the Women’s Health Initiative was first released in 2002.
To bolster their argument about the documentary, the academics and researchers cited specific statements that were made by various physicians who appeared in the documentary and compared those with the findings of various studies that have examined menopausal hormone therapies. Their letter listed more than two dozen examples where the film appeared to contradict previous research.
For instance, Mary Claire Haver, an obstetrician and gynecologist who runs a wellness clinic in Galveston, Texas, and has published a book about menopause, said in the film that “we know that (therapy) is protective against cardiovascular disease. We know it’s protective against neuro-dementia.”
In fact, the academics and researchers noted the therapies carry warnings that explicitly mention these should not be used to prevent cardiovascular disease or dementia. Their letter also cited a study published in JAMA this year that noted the therapies did not have any effect on cardiovascular disease, and that no randomized controlled trial has shown cardiovascular protection. A spokesperson for Haver declined to comment.
A remark made by Lisa Mosconi, a neuroscientist at the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian Hospital, was also criticized. “From a basic science perspective,” she said in the film, “there is a lot of evidence that supplementing hormones that ovaries no longer make with hormones that come from the outside has potential to support brain health and even possibly lower the risk of some neurological or psychiatric concerns like depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease.”
But the academics and researchers maintained, “this is not true. Menopausal hormone therapy increases the risk of dementia. It does not benefit depression, anxiety, or Parkinson’s disease.” And again, they cited different studies to support their contention. We reached out to Mosconi for comment and will update you accordingly.
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“State medical boards should not have any documentary making such statements,” said Diana Zuckerman, who heads the National Center for Health Research, a nonprofit think tank, and was among those who signed the letter.
Separately, the film also generated a mixed review from Jen Gunter, an obstetrician and gynecologist who writes a high-profile blog about women’s health issues. In a recent post, she praised some segments of the documentary for providing “excellent medical content,” an “outstanding discussion of racial and ethnic differences,” and an “interesting discussion” about menopause in the workplace.
But Gunter was also critical of the film for what she called “problematic content.”
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“Sadly, the documentary’s many good points were marred by some significant misinformation, and I believe it’s unacceptable and unfair to put women in a position where good science and helpful information is presented alongside information not supported by the guidelines, especially when we know that the first piece of information people hear is the one they are likely to keep believing,” Gunter concluded. “Given the silence around menopause, this documentary may be the first piece of information many women and even healthcare providers receive.”
Read the full article in STAT News here.