* WELCOME to the May 2001 edition of PMULines. This newsletter is published monthly by United Animal Nations and we welcome your ideas/tips for future issues. You’ve been put on this email list because of your concern for the Premarin mares and foals. If you know of a friend who’d like to subscribe or if you’d like to unsubscribe, please send an email to info@uan.org. Also, feel free to forward to other friends of the PMU mares and foals. In This Issue: 1.UAN’s First Rescued Premarin Mare Gives Birth to PMU Foal in Oregon 2.Lauren Hutton Promotes Premarin … And World Wildlife Fund 3.Natural Biologics Pumping Out 31,000 Gallons of Waste Pregnant Mares’ Urine Per Year 4.FDA Acknowledges UAN Objections To Premarin Production But Denies "Truth in Labeling" Petition 5.UAN Still Seeking "I’ve Switched" Participants in 16 States 1.UAN’S FIRST RESCUED PREMARIN MARE HAS PMU FOAL IN OREGON UAN recently received the exciting news that our first-ever rescued Premarin mare, named Kandy, had given birth to a healthy – and beautiful – filly at her home in Oregon. UAN member Cheryl Ruigomez, who adopted Kandy last fall, said the foal is the spitting image of her mother and already running and playing in the pasture, albeit never far from Kandy’s side. "She’s a good mother," Cheryl says of Kandy (who probably never had the chance to be a ‘good’ mother before). When Cheryl adopted Kandy last year, she realized that Kandy might be pregnant since she was a PMU mare. (PMU mares are routinely impregnated every year so that they can be placed back on the PMU lines come fall. Kandy, however, was apparently discarded for slaughter while pregnant because she was no longer needed on the line or because she had too much "attitude" to make her a "good" PMU mare.) Cheryl was unable to determine that Kandy actually was pregnant until recently, though, because Kandy has remained very skittish about being handled by Cheryl and her vet. Once the vet did determine that Kandy was pregnant, Cheryl said they began feeding her supplements through her food and, on May 5, the new baby was born. With the arrival of the new foal, Cheryl and her family are now caring for three Premarin horses. Cheryl also adopted another PMU foal, named Winnie, last fall because Winnie had bonded with Kandy at the auctions. Cheryl says the new foal, who has not yet been named since they are waiting for her personality to emerge, is a welcome addition to her family. Meanwhile, UAN is grateful to Cheryl for saving the lives of three Premarin horses! To view photos of Kandy, Winnie and the new baby foal, go to www.uan.org/premarin/premarinregistry.html. 2.LAUREN HUTTON PROMOTES PREMARIN … AND WORLD WILDLIFE FUND When Lauren Hutton’s Premarin promotions first began appearing last year - on television, in news magazines and in women’s periodicals – UAN sent her information about how the drug is produced and urged her to reconsider her endorsement of the cruelty behind this product. Well, the 57-year-old actress obviously hasn’t changed her mind about Premarin (she continues to stump for Premarin and Wyeth-Ayerst in ads and public appearances) but now comes the news that she also has taken on the job of "protecting wildlife" by signing on as an honorary chairwoman with the World Wildlife Fund. In a recent column in The San Francisco Chronicle announcing Hutton’s appearance at a World Wildlife Fund event, Hutton is quoted as stating that she would harness her star power to support the "causes" of both Premarin prescriptions and wildlife protection even if she weren’t being paid for it. "It’s the only good thing you can do with celebrity," she says. To let Lauren know what you think about her claim to be a friend to the animals (wildlife) while supporting the abuse of Premarin horses, contact her via her publisher (she’s written a book on fitness) at Lauren Hutton, c/o Author Mail, 7th Floor, Harper Collins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. Or contact the World Wildlife Fund and let them know what you think of using Hutton as a spokeswoman given her allegiance to the "bitter pill." To reach the WWF, visit their comment page at http://worldwildlife.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/worldwildlife.cfg/php/enduser/home.php. 3.NATURAL BIOLOGICS PUMPING OUT 31,000 GALLONS OF WASTE PMU URINE PRODUCT PER YEAR After an initial spurt of publicity following their opening in 1997, there has been little news about Natural Biologics, the Minnesota company which has applied to the FDA for permission to market a generic version of Premarin in the United States. However, news has leaked out over the last few years that as many as 40 PMU barns (with an estimated 2,000 pregnant mares on line) are now operating in the United States under contract to Natural Biologics. And, now, UAN has received documentation that the company is producing an estimated 31,000 gallons of waste urine per year as a result of its manufacturing process. In documents obtained by UAN in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, Natural Biologics reports that it produces an estimated 27,000 gallons of Hexane/Hexanol waste each year and an estimated 4,000 Ethyl/Ether per year as a result of extracting estrogens from mares’ urine. Both of these products are considered hazardous waste and the latest documents available from 2000 show Natural Biologics is having this waste trucked to Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, for incineration/disposal. Given the environmental problems (air and water contamination) that Wyeth-Ayerst has created in Brandon, Manitoba, at its Premarin plant, this is an issue that we plan to investigate further – and one that we will work to educate both Minnesota and Wisconsin residents about. 4.FDA ACKNOWLEDGES UAN OBJECTIONS TO PREMARIN PRODUCTION BUT DENIES ‘TRUTH IN LABELING’ PETITION In February, UAN sent a petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), signed by 10,813 concerned citizens, urging the FDA to require that the source of Premarin be disclosed on all Premarin information inserts and on bottles, boxes and other containers issued by pharmacies for Premarin prescriptions. We called this our "truth in labeling" petition with the idea being that, if medical professionals aren’t going to disclose the source of this drug to their female patients (as shown by our nationwide survey of women earlier this year), this essential information should at least be provided on the label. Last week, UAN received a response from FDA Director Director Janet Woodcock, head of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, stating that our petition had been denied. In explaining the reasoning for denying the request, Woodcock says she "understands" that we find the source of Premarin objectionable. Yet, she says she must deny the petition because existing law does not require that source material (unless it causes allergies or produces some other health risk) be disclosed on labels. "Many drugs come from unusual sources," Woodcock writes. Adding, "Any or all of these sources may be objectionable to some people, but that is not reason enough to impose a regulatory requirement." We respectfully disagree. The fact that most women find the source of Premarin objectionable (as shown by our nationwide survey earlier this year) is reason enough to require that this information, at the very least, be available on Premarin packaging. We’ll be exploring other options for our "truth in labeling" initiative. 5.UAN STILL SEEKING "I’VE SWITCHED" PARTICIPANTS IN 16 STATES While our "I’ve Switched" campaign continues to gain recruits throughout the United States, there are still 16 states where we haven’t heard from anyone who has made the switch off Premarin for a cruelty-free alternative. If you know of anyone in the following states who has made the switch or is considering doing so, please let us know at info@uan.org and we’ll send them one of our Premarin brochures and a free "I’ve Switched" pin. The states not yet represented include: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming. Our goal is to have "I’ve Switched" honorees in all 50 states by year-end! Previous issues of UAN’s PMULines are archived on our website at http://www.uan.org/premarin/pmulinescurrent.html. Or http://www.uan.org/premarin/index.html.