PMULine Directory

TRADING BEEF FOR HORSEMEAT?
MAD COW DISEASE INCREASES DEMAND
FOR HORSEMEAT IN EUROPE
A recent news report out of London reveals a startling trend: horsemeat is
showing up on more European dinner plates as the mad cow disease crisis
creates panic among meateaters and prompts Europeans to avoid eating cattle.

Horsemeat has long been considered a delicacy in European countries such as
France, Belgium, Germany and Italy (that's where many of the Premarin foals
tragically end up after they are fattened up at the feedlots in Canada.)
However, The Guardian (a British newspaper) reported in December that
horsemeat is becoming even more popular as Europeans shun beef they fear is
infected with bovine spongiform encephaolopathy (BSE), also known as the
"mad cow disease."

The newspaper quoted sources with Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), a
British-based farm animal welfare group, which had tracked an alarming rise
in the demand for horsemeat. CIWF reported that the number of slaughtered
ponies and horses being shipped from Britain to France, Belgium and other
countries had already doubled by 1999 while sales of beef (cattle) in France
had dropped by over 40 percent in recent weeks.

Unfortunately, the mad cow disease will likely increase demand for Premarin
foals and other horses who are being slaughtered in North America
and shipped overseas to be eaten. A recent Internet post reported that
horsemeat is now even being sold at a Walmart in Germany! UAN has been
working with an Austrian group, Vier Pfoten, on its anti-Premarin campaign
and will continue to work with this group and others to educate Europeans
about the Premarin industry and the cruelty behind the horsemeat they're
eating.
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HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES TRY
TO "SILENTLY SWITCH" WOMEN TO PREMARIN

A United Animal Nations member recently sent us a copy of a newsletter from
her health insurance company, Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania and
Pennsylvnia Blue Shield, which revealed that the company had recently
changed its "drug formulary" (drugs which it agreed to provide coverage for)
to exclude Cenestin (one of the new plant-based alternatives to Premarin).
The newlsetter states that the "covered alternative" for Cenestin is now
Premarin. The reason given for "the switch" is that the company is trying to
provide more "cost-effective prescription drug benefits" for its customers.
Members who don't make the switch, the newsletter goes on to state, will
have to pay the full price for their prescription without any insurance
coverage.

UAN is sending a letter of protest to this insurance company, pointing out
that women's healthcare choices are about more than cost and efficiency.
(Premarin is probably cheaper for this and other insurance companies to
provide because of the rebates and other deals Wyeth-Ayerst offers
healthcare providers, perks that were revealed in the recent anti-trust lawsuit filed against the company.) We'll also point out, of course, that women should be
fully informed about the source of Premarin, namely that it comes from
estrogens extracted from the urine of pregnant mares.

If your health insurance provider is trying to limit your hormone
replacement options to Premarin, please let us know (send an email to
info@uan.org with contact information for the company) and we'll contact
them as well. You should also send your own letter of protest and challenge
the switch. Drug formularies are always subject to change and if enough
women protest, they will change their policy. (We've seen this happen after
UAN, several of its members and women throughout Washington state
protested a "silent switch" to Premarin made by a health care provider in
that state.)

NOTE: To find out what drugs are covered by your plan, ask your provider
for a copy of its "drug formulary." You can often find this list on the
company's website or in brochures or other pamphlets that are sent to you in
the mail. You can also call your provider's customer service line to request
a copy.
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UAN'S "I'VE SWITCHED" CAMPAIGN SEEKS RECRUITS
IN ALL 50 STATES: HELP US MAKE OUR PROTEST NATIONWIDE
As part of our 2001 Anti-Premarin Campaign, UAN has made it our goal to gain
recruits for our "I've Switched" (off Premarin) Campaign in all 50 U.S.
states. We already have more than 300 recruits in 34 states (all of whom
have received a free copy of our "I've Switched" pin) but are especially
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 their doctor. (You
can encourage them to visit our website at www.uan.org for more background
information on the Premarin issue or send us their address and we'll send
them one of our Premarin brochures.) Or, better yet, if you know of someone
living in one of these states who has already made the switch, please send
us their name or encourage them to contact us and we'll send them off an
"I've Switched" pin in honor of their support of the Premarin mares and
foals.
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UAN SEEKING INFORMATION ON U.S. PMU BARNS
Another focus of UAN's 2001 Anti-Premarin Campaign will be to identify the
location of PMU barns in the United States and to begin an investigation
into the conditions of mares held in these barns as well as the fate of the
Premarin foals born to these horses.

We recently heard from a UAN member who lives in Southern California who was
able to adopt a Premarin mare (only two years old and already pregnant and
lame) from a barn in Indiana simply by following up on an advertisement she
had seen in a horse publication and asking where the horse came from. The
farmer told her that he had had the mare on a "pee line" at a nearby barn he
contracts with but she was no longer needed because he had enough horses and
she was lame. (The mare is now recovering at her new home in Southern
California, and UAN will be exploring options for rescuing other mares and
foals from this barn with the help of this caring UAN member.)

The Minnesota-based company Natural Biologics has reportedly contracted with
at least 40 farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Nebraska and North and
South Dakota to collect horse urine. (Note: Natural Biologics hasn't yet
gotten FDA approval to produce a "generic" Premarin in the United States but
is apparently confident that will happen in the near future based on
millions it has spent on its plant and contracts with the farmers.)

If you've heard about a PMU barn in any of the states listed above or see
information 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 whether we
can save any of the foals.
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YET ANOTHER MARKET FOR PREMARIN: CROSSDRESSERS?
In the most bizarre use we've seen yet for Premarin, the scuttlebut on some
Internet sites is that Premarin is being used by transgender individuals
(and crossdressers) as a hormone to increase their feminine
attributes. Some of these individuals are apparently buying Premarin without
a prescription over the Internet (from foreign sources) while others are
getting prescriptions under the treatment of a medical professional. This
undoubtedly isn't a market that Wyeth-Ayerst will publicly promote. But it's
a safe bet they don't mind making profits off yet another market for
their drug.

HAVE A TIP OR INFORMATION TO SHARE FOR A FUTURE ISSUE OF PMULines? Send an email to info@uan.org.
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