US Hormone Therapy Use Nearly Doubles to 3.6% After 2025 FDA Warning Removal
Updated
Updated · epicresearch.org · Jul 30
US Hormone Therapy Use Nearly Doubles to 3.6% After 2025 FDA Warning Removal
3 articles · Updated · epicresearch.org · Jul 30
Summary
Hormone therapy use among women in U.S. outpatient care rose from 1.7% in January 2017 to 3.6% by April 2026, with the sharpest gains beginning in 2023 and continuing after the FDA dropped black-box warnings in November 2025.
Women aged 45 to 54 drove the increase, with use nearly tripling and ending the study with the highest rate of any age group, while women 55 to 64 and 35 to 44 roughly doubled.
Progestin-only therapy grew about 3.3-fold to 1.1% and estrogen-only therapy 2.3-fold to 2.6%, while combined estrogen-progestin and androgen or testosterone products changed little.
Transdermal products such as patches and gels climbed about 3.5-fold to 1.17%, and vaginal formulations nearly tripled to 1.26%, outpacing oral drugs and injectables.
The findings, drawn from 163.3 million women in Epic's Cosmos records, suggest prescribing is shifting toward symptom-focused treatment around menopause rather than broad chronic-disease prevention.