Before compounded hormones were prescribed for me by my gynecologist as I was going through menopause. I was feeling less and less myself, and consequently less functional. I was depressed and wondering what I could do to feel better? The bio-identical hormones helped literally immediately. I was so grateful that I had such a helpful gynecologist, and a compounding pharmacy nearby. I am still on them years later in a very small amount daily, and rely on them for my well being. Since I use a very small amount, I found I could use an over the counter brand later that worked about as well and saved me a lot of money. As insurance doesn't cover compounded bio-identical hormones , I found out, and they were expensive. But sometimes things like that are necessary, and in this case they absolutely were. These are hormones that should stay available for the women who need them, both compounded and over the counter. This shouldn't even be questioned. Some women are lucky and breeze through that time of life, and some aren't. The ones that aren't that lucky really NEED those hormones. There is no reason to take them away. Please stop with this issue, this isn't the first time I've heard of this coming up. And there are so many other things that are truly important and needed, that Congress could be addressing right now. The decision whether or not to use bio-identical hormones should be left up to the women who make that choice. They need to stay available so that women have that choice, as they are the only ones affected by it. Thank you.