Many of you may have seen the WFAA evening news story on 5-24-10. It was about the Ft. Worth Police Dept. advocating a wellness program including possible testosterone replacement for its officers. Our Clinic was inappropriately referred to as a reference. Her is a copy of an email sent to the reporter Sherry Slater:
Dear Mrs. Slater:
My name is Jeff Wasserman MD. I am Board certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology, the American Board of Pain Medicine, and the American Board of Anti-aging and Regenerative Medicine. I am one of the founders, and Medical Director of Dallas Healthy Aging Institute (DHAI).
I was rather shocked this evening to see the story "Fort Worth police chief promotes hormone therapy" on the evening WFAA news with Dallas Healthy Aging Institute referred to as a reference for the story. Not only were our physicians not contacted for comment, but a statement was attributed to us that we did not make nor support.
Your story incorrectly stated DHAI feels testosterone replacement is likely to cause "Men to become angry". I am not aware of any staff that made that comment to any of your representatives, nor can I find that written anywhere on our website? If I am mistaken here, please correct me.
In fact, we are VERY MUCH in support of bio-indentical testosterone hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for middle-aged and elderly men who have signs and symptoms of testosterone deficiency with documented low serum levels. We rarely see even minor side effects. The endocrinologist in your report from UTSW Medical Center gave his opinion that men receiving replacement often get a "high" from HRT and get "addicted". I couldn't disagree more, and after 6 years of routinely prescribing HRT, I can honestly say I have never seen that occur. I also have never witnessed, or gotten complaints of increased aggression from patients when the medication is prescribed correctly, and for appropriate deficiency states.
Many middle-aged and elderly men develop evidence of testosterone deficiency including frequent fatigue, muscle wasting, inability to lose weight, low self-esteem, poor memory, low bone density, and reduced libido. This "Andropause", when accompanied by documented low testosterone levels, frequently responds dramatically to testosterone HRT by various techniques as many of our patients can attest. There are also hundreds of studies supporting the use of testosterone replacement for documented deficiency.
Not only do I frequently prescribe testosterone replacement for patients in our wellness clinic (male and post-menopausal females), but as an anesthesiologist and Pain Medicine physician I routinely prescribe bio-identical testosterone for male patients with chronic pain frequenly on opioid medications which have been shown to lower testosterone levels and cause concommitant signs and symptoms.
I want to emphasize that testosterone is a controlled substance due to its history of being used for reasons other than for appropriate clinical indications. It should only be prescibed by providers trained in recognizing deficiency conditions, utilizing various treatment options, and monitoring response to therapy.
Please retract the misquoted statement "on air", and on the website.
If you would like to know more about our Clinic and appropriate indications for HRT, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone at (214) 559-4325 or email at Jwasseman@DHAclinic.com. I appreciate your attention to this matter.
Jeff Wasserman MD
Cell (214)886-2108
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