9 Investigates: Medical Center that offered hormone replacement

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

A former Charlotte doctor's office offered to boost your energy and make you feel younger, but Channel 9 uncovered that patients may not know the hormone treatment therapy they received could cause health problems.

Eyewitness News found out how North Carolina's medical board took action.

Charlotte residents may be familiar with HRC Medical Center that offered hormone replacement treatment last fall.

When Eyewitness News found a North Carolina Medical Board order from October requiring that HRC's Medical Director Dr. John Murphy Jr. disassociate himself from the practice, Eyewitness News starting digging further at the State Medical Board office in Raleigh.

Board attorney Marcus Jimison said HRC doctors prescribed patients hormone therapy even though their levels were normal.

"They are paying for this and it is not cheap. Yet they are not being told there are serious health consequences," said Jimison.

He said those possible side effects can include cancer, heart disease and blood clots, plus other issues when hormone levels are too high.

Jimison said some HRC patients experienced those exact problems.

"Then when they started developing female characteristics, HRC would prescribe Famara, a cancer drug, used off label to counteract these side effects," he said.

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9 Investigates: Medical Center that offered hormone replacement