Women seeking estrogen patches for relief from menopause symptoms have been stymied by a months-long, nationwide shortage that has expanded to include other forms of hormone therapy.
The products also come in injectables, gels and other forms, and have become popular for their ability to ease common symptoms, like hot flashes and night sweats.
Here’s what to know.
What is hormone therapy?
Menopause hormone therapy replaces the estrogen in a woman’s body as her ovaries produce less of it during menopause. Estrogen patches, a popular form of hormone therapy, combine an active pharmaceutical ingredient with adhesives and other components to deliver the medicine through the skin.
Hormone therapy also comes in pills, creams, sprays, vaginal rings and other forms.
Why is there a shortage of hormone therapy products?
Demand for estrogen patches has dramatically increased as women learn more about the treatment amid new research and more accessible information. Interest rose further after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year started asking companies that make hormone therapy products to remove “black box” warnings about a risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Between January 2025 and June 2026, the number of prescriptions for estrogen patches doubled, from 1.8 million to 3.6 million, according to an analysis by the Association for Accessible Medicines, a trade association of drug manufacturers and distributors.
In September, the FDA said it was “aware of reports of patients having difficulty readily accessing” the patches.
“The FDA views increased interest in menopause treatment as an important development for women’s health,” the agency said in a statement.
Still, the FDA has not declared an official shortage of estrogen patches, which some experts and officials have said would incentivize manufacturers to speed up production.
The House Democratic Women’s Caucus called on the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services in late September to outline a plan to mitigate the shortage of patches and provide a timeline for “when supply is expected to stabilize,” saying constituents have raised concerns about being unable to fill their prescriptions.
What is the scale of the shortage?
The shortage has significantly impacted women’s ability to fill prescriptions for the patches, Kathleen Jordan, chief medical officer of virtual health care platform Midi Health, said in a statement to The Washington Post.
Though she said the shortfall is specifically impacting transdermal estrogen patches — the “frontline guideline-preferred therapy for estrogen” — the shortage has broadened to include alternative therapies, including estrogen gels and combination estrogen/progesterone patches.
Liza Claus, an associate professor in the clinical pharmacy department at the University of Colorado Anschutz, said there is a “genuine access problem” with estrogen patches.
“Supply has been intermittent in some areas, and patients have struggled to reliably fill prescribed therapies without gaps in treatment,” she said.
Claus added that she has also observed a “downstream impact” on the availability of estradiol transdermal gel in her area.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, a professional organization of pharmacists, also lists several injectable and vaginal estrogen products as facing shortages.
When will the shortage end?
The FDA said in September that it was working with all six manufacturers of the patches to increase supply. It added that availability of specific products or brands may vary by pharmacy but that the patches remain available.
A spokesperson for drugmaker Viatris, which manufactures estrogen patches and creams, said the company has been “working continuously” this year to increase access to the patches but that ramping up production takes time. The company’s efforts have included adding another shift to a Vermont-based facility “to reach 24/7, around-the-clock production,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Claus said that while she’s optimistic that increased production will improve supply, doctors cannot confidently predict when patients will have consistent, reliable access to every product.
Jordan, of Midi Health, said she expects that demand will “only continue to grow” as women gain access to more information about menopause care.
What can women who need these products do?
Experts point to the FDA-approved alternatives to patches, like estrogen gels and sprays, that can bridge the gap while the supply of patches ramps up. Patients can ask their pharmacists about what forms of hormone therapy are in stock and talk to their prescribers about alternate options, they said.
“Women should not feel that they have to go without treatment,” Claus said.
The post What to know about the shortage of estrogen patches for menopause relief appeared first on Washington Post.
