Where does the perception that menopause is overmedicalized come from? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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 Women may be experiencing overmedicalization as they transition through menopause, a recent Lancet series seems to suggest. Wen Shen, a menopause expert at Johns Hopkins, says that’s not her experience, since she sees many women who avoid physicians until symptoms drive them to seek help. Rather she identifies ‘femtech’ companies as one root of the problem. 

Shen: This is where I think the over medicalization should focus on. There are a lot of fem tech companies that are doing telemedicine, where a patient was signed up for an appointment, pay hundreds of dollars to have this consultation not paid by insurance and then they will have the hormones mailed to them. If they should have complications with the hormones then they are told to go see their OBGYN.  :28

Shen says women often struggle to find a knowledgeable clinician when it comes to helping with menopause symptoms but encourages them to keep trying rather than go online. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.