For 15 years Maggie Tuttle was prescribed Hormone Replacement Therapy in various forms and for all of those 15 years she suffered major illness and unnecessary operations. In 1995 she stopped taking all drugs and began her slow climb back to health. Maggie campaigned for over 30 years on behalf of thousands of unfortunate women and through the media and a TV programme she went public about her 15 years of hell on HRT. Within days she heard from hundreds of women relating the same experiences of HRT. Over a period of time, with world press coverage, her database grew to over 11,000. This was the start of The Menopausal Helpline identifying the side effects of HRT. |  |
In 1998, Maggie and the women marched to Downing Street with a petition of thousands of signatures protesting against the indiscriminate prescription use of HRT. Later in the same year, Maggie hired the whole of the Brighton Conference Centre and staged the first conference in the world on the side effects of HRT. Doctors attended from America, Sweden, Egypt and India, as well as the UK. At the same time she wrote with appropriate evidence to every Conservative, Labour and LibDem MP, Lords and Ladies, Earls, Dukes, Knights and Baronesses. She confronted the pharmaceutical industry and the medical profession, the FDA and the Medicines Control Agency - but there was no response. No one cared. |
Maggie has also been in correspondence with the Queen, who was the only person who appeared to care and did try to help but even she was ignored by the health authorities. For 6 years, Maggie used her life savings to fund the Helpline and in 2001 with spiralling debts approaching £200,000 and the loss of her home, it has taken her over 5 years to try to re-establish herself. |
