Local pharmacies out of estrogen patches as demand surges

WOLCOTT, Conn. (WFSB) - A popular prescription for women is missing at many pharmacies. There is a nationwide shortage of estrogen patches.

Kim Jones in Wolcott says only a few weeks ago she couldn’t find a pharmacy to refill her prescription.

“I called another pharmacy, and they’re like, no, we’re out of them, and we have 72 people in the queue waiting for them,” said Jones.

Jones had to stop using the patches for a short time because she couldn’t find them, and then had trouble sleeping.

“Oh, I was up, like five, six times a night, and I couldn’t fall asleep, and then I would get up,” said Jones.

Estrogen patches are a form of hormone replacement therapy that can be used to treat perimenopausal or menopausal symptoms. Jennifer Wethje is a clinical assistant professor at Quinnipiac’s School of Nursing. Wethje explains estrogen patches aren’t new, but there’s a new outlook on them.

“The Women’s Health Initiative came out with a study in 2002 which gave a very bad name to hormone replacement therapy and at that point, most people kind of stopped prescribing or on a very limited basis, but we’ve learned that that study was very poorly completed. The sample was not generalized to the population. Up and coming, we’ve been prescribing hormone replacement much more frequently,” said Wethje.

Then in late 2025, the FDA removed what’s called a “black box warning” from the patches that said estrogen was linked to increased risk for breast cancer and clotting disorders.

“That black box warning was linked to that poorly done study,” said Wethje.

Removing the black box warning is another reason more people are now comfortable using estrogen patches. Wethje says the shortage is simple supply and demand.

“You know, all of a sudden we have so much more demand for it, and the supply chains just aren’t ready for it,” said Wethje.

Wethje explains you can talk to your doctor about other options, “I really encourage everybody to talk to their own provider because it depends on what their symptoms are, what the best options are, but there are other ways to give estrogen. There are other transdermal ways like a gel and a spray. There’s also oral estrogen that we can give.”

“If they really want to stay on the patch, we can say you’re changing it twice a week,” said Weithje. “Maybe we can go five days instead of changing it at three to four days or, you

know, trying to do stuff like that, so it’s a very individualized situation where I encourage people to speak with their provider, talk about what it’s doing for them.”

Jones’ doctor prescribed her a gel when she was having trouble a few weeks ago, and she eventually found a pharmacy with patches too. She has enough patches to last a few months and hopes supply has caught up by then.