Dr. Erika | Bioidentical Hormone Expert

Cinergy Health

Dear All:

I am attaching a press release regarding my appointment as Medical Director to Cinergy Health.

I am very excited to team up with Cinergy. Together we will improve the health care system and help the public focus on prevention and patient advocacy.

Please read the release, and check out their website www.cinergyhealth.com.  I am happy to be affiliated with an insurance company who puts the patient first and has the goal of helping people focus on prevention.

My first media opportunity through Cinergy came last Friday and I would like you to watch it: Industrialized Health-Care Mess .

My clinical practice and contact with the patients and public will not be affected by this appointment.

To your health,
Dr. Erika

Cinergy Health Appoints Dr. Erika Schwartz as Medical Director

Provider of Affordable Health Care Insurance Will Draw on Physicians' Expertise in Preventative Medicine and Patients' Health Advocacy to Enhance Health Plans

AVENTURA, Fla., June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Cinergy Health, a nationwide provider of affordable health insurance benefit programs for the consumer market, today announced Erika Schwartz MD, as the company's medical director, a new position. As Cinergy Health's medical director, Dr. Schwartz will provide guidance on health care issues, ranging from the efficacy of emerging medical procedures to so-called non-traditional treatment methods, such as the use of nutriceuticals. In addition, she will engage the public in a dialog on ways they can optimize relationships with their own health care professionals.

"We are excited to have Erika join the Cinergy Health team, especially given her broad and deep experience as a patients' health advocate," said Daniel Touizer, CEO of Cinergy Health. "Her work in both hospital-based and private practice gives her a powerful perspective on the entire health care delivery system and what constitutes a proper and effective level of service - all for the benefit of Cinergy Health Plan members."

Over the past 30 years, Dr. Schwartz has personally taken care of more than 100,000 patients, treated more than 15,000 patients with various formulations of bioidentical hormones and has written four best-selling books published by Warner Books, Putnam and HarperCollins. In December 2008, the Medical Clinics of North America published an entire chapter written by Dr. Schwartz on the use of hormones in wellness and disease prevention, a first in the field of conventional medicine. She was invited by the chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harvard to lecture at Massachusetts General Hospital on the topic of bioidentical hormones in February 2009.

"Cinergy Health is an insurance benefits company that actually puts the individual first. Its affordable health insurance coverage is as innovative as any medical breakthrough I've seen," Schwartz said. "Further, Cinergy Health plans are designed to encourage people to seek care, not delay it such that their condition could worsen. As someone who's been involved in patients' rights for years, I am proud to be associated with this company."

Schwartz received her MD from State University of New York Downstate College of Medicine, graduating cum laude, as a member of the prestigious AOA academic honor society. She served as Director of Emergency Medicine at Westchester County Medical Center (University Hospital of New York Medical College) in Valhalla, NY, a world-renowned trauma center. She has been in private practice, in Internal Medicine, for the last 17 years.

As one of the nation's most widely-recognized experts in the field of bioidentical hormones and an outspoken advocate for patients' rights, Dr. Erika Schwartz has testified before Congress, appeared on CBS News, Larry King Live, The View, The Montel Williams Show, CNN, MSNBC, Oprah Satellite Radio with Dr. Oz and many others. Her affiliations include: Board of Managers at SUNY-Downstate College of Medicine, the American Society for Internal Medicine, National Association of Medical Communicators (AMA), International Coenzyme Q10 Society and the Bioidentical Hormone Initiative.

About Cinergy Health

CINERGY HEALTH, Inc., with headquarters in Florida, is a nationwide provider of innovative and affordable health insurance solutions designed to meet the changing needs of American families. Recognizing the financial challenges for people who cannot afford or qualify for costly major medical insurance plans,

Cinergy Health designs and delivers lower cost alternative health plans that facilitate access to quality healthcare services and enable people to maintain better health. Cinergy Health Preferred Insurance Plans are limited medical benefit plans, which provide first dollar coverage for the predictable medical care people need most frequently. These insurance plans provide coverage starting with a member's very first doctor's visit without a deductible so that s/he doesn't put off important medical care. From doctor visits and diagnostics to maternity and surgery, Cinergy provides essential coverage that's easily within most people's budgets. Further, plan member can choose doctors and hospitals of their choice without being confined to a list.

NEWSWEEK'S ATTACK ON OPRAH WILL NOT HELP THE PUBLIC

This week's Newsweek cover story is a harsh and lengthy attack on Oprah and her ever-expanding health care advocacy choices. The article questions the legitimacy of her choices and points out that some of her doctors and “experts” are far out of the medical mainstream. 

I have never been on the Oprah Show, but last winter I was interviewed by Oprah's main doctor Mehmet Oz on his satellite radio show. Patients and e-mails flooded my office for months. This spring I was quoted in Oprah’s magazine as they interviewed one of my patients about bioidentical hormones. I learned first hand the power of Oprah and the success she brings to everyone she touches.

At times while watching her shows and reading about her choices of experts I wondered about the lack of balance. I even wrote to her producers when I realized by watching her that her thyroid was badly treated and I knew she was not getting good advice.

When she talked about bioidentical hormones I was thrilled. Her choice of experts and spokeswoman for the hormones, Suzanne Somers, left me cold. But it was Oprah who opened the door to bringing bioidenticals to the mainstream so I applauded her effort. When I gave my lecture on bioidentical hormones at Harvard in February 2, 2009, the first slide I showed was the one of Oprah with Suzanne Somers.

I asked the chairman of the department of ob-gyn, Isaac Schiff, MD and the rest of the physicians in the audience, “ How come Suzanne Somers and Oprah are the ones to teach the public about bioidentical hormones? What has the medical profession done with the information of the Women’s Health Initiative study?  Nine years later and women are still suffering and the medical establishment has not stepped up to the plate to help women find safe solutions to menopausal symptoms. Why are bioidentical hormones still controversial?” They had no answers.

Oprah did. She did what no conventional media or conventional medicine has done. She has stepped up to the plate. She has given the public the missing information. Instead of indoctrinating us with the party line, Oprah has opened the door to other options. And the public has spoken. Oprah is their leader, not the American Medical Association.

Granted, Oprah may not have always chosen the best “experts” or figured how to provide a balanced view of their opinions. But then, who does? At least she has had the courage to bring to the public new ways of looking at health and has sparked interest in options that others would like kept under wraps. Don’t let the naysayers stop progress! 

PERSPECTIVE ON SWINE FLU

The recent outbreak of swine flu and its rapid spread from Mexico into the US and other countries has caused many of our community members to ask what I think about the dangers of this new disease and the risk it poses to the population at large?

Here's what I know and think about it.

Swine flu is not a new type of flu. It is a known and recognized flu virus that causes pigs to suffer with symptoms similar to those that affect us humans when we get the flu. Most pigs just get over it the same way most of us get over the flu even if we are not immunized against it.

Transmission of the swine flu from pigs to humans occurs only rarely and it happens by droplet transmission. That means you have to be in contact with a pig who has the flu and sneezes on you. That situation is a very rare occurrence. But once humans do catch the swine flu from the pig, the disease spreads because humans transmit it to other humans much faster than the pigs do.

Swine flu is like other flu. It is characterized by fever, malaise, generalized pains and aches, sneezing. Runny nose, sore throat and occasionally diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pains. Overall the duration of the swine flu is the same as other flu 5-7 days.

Humans can protect themselves and everyone else from spreading the swine flu the same way we can protect ourselves from spreading communicable diseases in general.

To protect yourself from the swine flu you need to take the same measures you take to maintain a hygienic and clean lifestyle that support your immune system's optimal function: eat healthy foods, do not drink alcohol or other immune depressants, get 7-8 hours of sleep a night, exercise regularly, wash your hands frequently, do not come into contact with people who are sick and stay away from other people when you are sick. Common sense goes a long way and saves everyone who practices it.

A little perspective on the swine flu can help us learn not to react to the sensationalism associated with it:

1. In 2008- 37,313 people died in car crashes in the US.
2. More than 20,000 people die of the common flu in the US yearly in spite of flu immunization
3. There are approximately 15,000 murders in the US every year.
4. On the average 90 people die of lightening every year
5. Remember Anthrax? In 2001 we were all scared to death by it and 5 people actually died from the disease. I wonder how many died with heart attacks and strokes caused by the fear of Anthrax?

I am not being cavalier or trying to make light of a source of fear and confusion. I just want you to be smart and put things into perspective. Good attitude and good perspective are great tools for survival.

BIOIDENTICAL HORMONES: THE EVIDENCE IS HERE

It is sad and disturbing that in 2009 there is no formally-designated medical specialty in women's health. It is sad and disturbing that the role of hormones in wellness and disease prevention is unclear and confusing to the medical community and the public at large.

Physicians taking care of women and working with hormones are polarized; they either support bioidenticals to a fault or reject them cavalierly without scientific basis or knowledge of what they are or how they work.

Doctors pitted against doctors are a recipe for disaster. This untenable situation directly affects patient care. Women are suffering while desperately looking to their doctors for answers and reassurance. We can no longer stand by watching women be treated as second class citizens in our present health care system.

As a conventional physician who has worked successfully with bioidentical hormones for 14 years on 15,000 patients I find it hard to accept that if it weren't for celebrities touting bioidenticals, most conventional physicians would still think of bioidenticals as a dirty word or a marketing term. Shouldn't the goal of healthcare be for physicians to help patients feel better? What am I missing here?

I find it impossible to grasp the reality that millions of women who take bioidenticals might have to continue to be victims of shoddy practices by fringe elements and feel obligated to hide the fact that they are taking bioidenticals from their conventional doctors for fear of intimidation or belittlement.

It is time to eliminate the polarization. Together with a group of expert and caring clinicians we have committed to creating a better system of cooperation among doctors and between doctors and patients.

One year ago we created the Bioidentical Hormone Initiative, www.bioidenticalhormone initiative.org , a not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating physicians, educating lawmakers in Congress and providing scientific and referral resources to physicians and laypeople on all bioidentical hormone data on an ongoing basis.

The Bioidentical Hormone Initiative, is asking for physicians to join forces and experience and effectuate a positive change in women's health and learn the science behind them and consider the use of bioidentical hormones in their practices.

There are no good guys, there are no bad guys here. There only are women who suffer and need not do so. For goodness sake, this is 2009 after all!

When the focus is shifted entirely onto the women we will be able to create a better health care system that will lead to healthier and happier patients and more professionally-fulfilled physicians. Together with the founders and the members of the Bioidentical Hormone Initiative we will work to accomplish this goal. Please join us!

THERE IS Hope for Women's Health and Bioidentical Hormones After ALL

Today is a big day for us!

For us physicians who serve women no longer accepting status quo, physicians with the desire and knowledge to keep patients healthy and young, with the goal of always being cutting edge and safe in the information and treatments we deliver. Physicians who follow the science and the scientific evidence when treating patients with bioidentical hormones, physicians who dedicate their lives to the wellbeing of the patients we treat.

Today is a big day for us women! For the first time the mainstream media is acknowledging that women are suffering unnecessarily and that hormone imbalance is an overwhelming handicap that needs attention, legitimate treatments and can no longer be swept under the rug.

It took someone like Oprah Winfrey, who is obviously suffering from inadequately treated thyroid problems, menopausal hormone loss and its attendant weight gain and other unbearable symptoms to blast the hinges off the door to bioidentical hormone therapy.

Acknowledgement is always the precursor to enlightenment.

Maybe one day soon Oprah might even consider bioidenticals an important ingredient in her commitment to achieving true wellness.

For now, let's just celebrate the fact that bioidentical hormones are "coming out", and are finally being considered as viable treatments for feeling lousy. No longer are we hearing that "bioidenticals are just a marketing term". Now that is progress!

The next step involves training the doctors.

We must educate the medical community about the existence of bioidenticals, provide them with the scientific data and the studies about them. Teach them the difference between how bioidenticals and non-identical hormone molecules work in the human body. Inform them that bioidenticals are FDA approved and available at your local drugstore. Explain to them the role and usefulness of compounding. Help them understand that they must know and get involved with who compounds the hormones they prescribe.

Finally, balanced and honest studies must be undertaken on a large scale and in full view that compare the efficacy and safety of bioidenticals to their non-identical counterparts. The era of creating confusion and muddying the waters of hormone therapies has reached its end.

Teaching doctors the truth about hormones must start in medical schools and continue throughout their clinical careers. Women's health is indelibly connected to the knowledge and understanding of hormones and therapies associated with them. We can no longer treat women and their health as second class citizens.

While physicians like myself focus on opening the doors of knowledge to the medical community-(WebMD News Story and read my most recent article in the Medical Clinics for physicians) you, the patient must become vigilant about the care you receive, the treatment you accept from both conventional and alternative practitioners.

My hope is that you will now begin to demand that your doctors listen to you.

When you say you have hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, weight gain, depression, loss of sex drive, brain fog and everything else you know is hormonally connected, do not take a pat on the back,birth control pills,antidepressants or "you're just getting old honey" as answers. Do not allow anyone to scare you!

Do not hide the fact that you are taking or want to take bioidenticals from your Ob-Gyn, Internist or Endocrinologist. They need to learn about them now!

It's high time all doctors start representing your interests and become members of your team. When you no longer accept being taken for granted, will your OB/GYNs and Endocrinologists become true providers of health.

This is a new day and we must all celebrate. It's the day we took back our healthcare!

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