Hims Launches TRT: A “New Era” for a 90-Year-Old Hormone?

Hims launched in November 2017.

In October 2026, it announced access to injectable and oral testosterone replacement therapy under the headline “A New Era for Testosterone Care.”

Testosterone was isolated and synthesized in 1935. Clinical use followed soon afterward.

Almost nine years as a company. More than nine decades of testosterone science.

Welcome to the conversation. We’ve been expecting you.

Somewhere, a medical textbook from the last century is wondering whether it should hire a publicist.

The joke writes itself. The question underneath it deserves more attention:

What makes a men’s health company a men’s health company?

New to your menu is different from new to medicine

A company adding a service is business news.

Whether it represents a meaningful advance in healthcare depends on what changes for the patient.

The hormone is established. The need for thoughtful evaluation is established. The responsibility to monitor treatment is established.

That leaves the care itself as the place to demonstrate progress.

Does the patient get a better explanation? A more useful assessment? A clinician who connects the dots? A dependable plan when something goes wrong?

Those would be achievements worth announcing.

A new treatment category on a website needs to earn that same applause.

To be precise, Hims is announcing an expansion of its own services, and its published program includes laboratory testing, live clinical assessment and follow-up. This critique concerns the launch framing and the standard behind the men’s health label.

I am not reviewing individual Hims clinicians or claiming to know what happens in every appointment.

But I am asking why the industry so often celebrates the arrival of another prescription option as though the hard part of healthcare has been solved.

A man is more complicated than a product category

A patient does not experience his health in website tabs.

He experiences poor sleep, a changing waistline, declining strength, sexual concerns, low motivation and the uncomfortable feeling that something is off.

He may arrive asking for testosterone because that is the explanation he has heard.

The clinical responsibility is to understand the story.

What changed? When? What else is happening? What has already been tried? What does he actually want to get back to doing?

A business can organize services into separate categories. A clinician has to put the person back together.

For me, that is where a men’s health practice earns its name.

A prescription is a decision. Care is an ongoing responsibility.

Testosterone treatment should follow a defensible diagnosis.

Guidelines describe compatible symptoms and consistently low testosterone, with repeat morning testing and selected use of free testosterone when total testosterone or SHBG makes interpretation difficult. They also recommend evaluating the cause of confirmed deficiency.

That takes more than noticing a flagged result.

The clinician needs to interpret the finding, explain the uncertainty and decide what to do next.

Sometimes the answer is TRT. Sometimes the next step is further evaluation. Sometimes the patient needs a different treatment altogether.

A practice should be just as capable of helping the man who does not need its most advertised prescription.

That is a useful test of whether the relationship is organized around the patient.

The real innovation would be connecting the dots

My standard for comprehensive men’s healthcare is straightforward: the clinician should consider how the patient’s hormonal concerns fit into his broader health and goals.

That means asking about sexual function, fertility plans, sleep, medications, nutrition, physical activity and changes in body composition.

It means knowing when to investigate further and when to involve another specialist.

It also means being clear about the limits of the service. No clinician or platform can provide everything. A responsible practice should know what it can manage and have a plan for what it cannot.

The ability to prescribe several medications is useful.

The ability to explain how the patient’s problems relate—and take responsibility for the next step—is what I want men to expect.

Ask what happens after the laboratory number improves

Here is the question that cuts through almost any hormone clinic’s marketing:

What happens if my testosterone looks better, but I still feel awful?

Will someone reconsider the original explanation? Review what improved and what did not? Ask a different question?

Will there be a thoughtful conversation about whether the treatment is delivering enough benefit to justify continuing it?

Follow-up should assess symptoms and adverse effects as well as appropriate laboratory and safety monitoring.

The refill is easy to recognize. The clinical work is what happens around it.

That is where I would look for evidence of a new era.

Fertility cannot be an afterthought

A man’s goals may include feeling better now and having children later.

Those priorities belong in the same conversation before treatment begins. Testosterone can suppress sperm production, and AUA/ASRM guidance advises against testosterone monotherapy in men interested in current or future fertility.

A service earns trust by surfacing decisions the patient may not know he needs to make.

That is a higher standard than responding only to the product he came looking for.

Men’s health should be a clinical commitment

I run a competing men’s health practice. My perspective is not neutral.

It is also a standard I should be held to.

At Fit & Fine Health, the commitment is direct physician-led care that connects hormone evaluation with sexual health, metabolic health, nutrition and training. The value of that approach has to show up in the actual patient relationship.

A credential in a biography cannot substitute for listening. A small practice does not automatically provide better care. A large platform does not automatically provide worse care.

Every practice should have to demonstrate its expertise, continuity and follow-through.

Calling yourself a men’s health company sets an expectation that extends beyond the medications you offer.

Welcome. Now show us the care.

Hims’ TRT launch is an opportunity to ask a better question than which company can deliver testosterone.

What should men expect from the people taking responsibility for their health?

My answer: sound judgment, a clear explanation, individualized treatment and someone who stays engaged when the case becomes complicated.

Testosterone has had more than 90 years to establish its place in medicine.

The industry can spend a little less time congratulating itself for offering it—and a little more time showing what it does for the man receiving it.

Welcome to the conversation.

The prescription is the easy part to announce. The care is what has to earn the headline.

Before choosing an online TRT clinic

Hims’ expansion brings more attention to testosterone care. That creates an opportunity for men to seek help—and to ask better questions.

Look beyond the delivery method and the monthly headline price.

Ask who will care for you, how decisions will be made, and what happens if the first plan does not work.

Expanding access matters. What happens after the prescription matters more.

If you want a physician-led evaluation of your testosterone concerns, energy, sexual health or broader health goals, start your assessment here.

David Hall, MD, CWC
Founder
Fit & Fine Health

Frequently asked questions

Is offering testosterone replacement therapy in 2026 really innovative?

TRT itself is an established treatment. Adding it to a company’s services expands that company’s offering; it does not make testosterone a newly discovered therapy. Innovation can still occur in delivery, diagnostics, access and follow-up. The meaningful question is what has improved for the patient.

How long has testosterone been used as a medicine?

Testosterone was isolated and chemically synthesized in 1935, and clinical preparations followed soon afterward. Its medical history now spans more than 90 years. That does not mean every current formulation is 90 years old: delivery systems, evidence and clinical practice have evolved. [5]

Why does a men’s health company adding TRT nearly nine years after launch invite scrutiny?

Hims launched in November 2017 and announced its new injectable and oral TRT options in October 2026—almost nine years later. [1,6] That timing invites a fair editorial question: what does the company consider core men’s healthcare? It does not, by itself, prove poor care or explain why the company waited. My point is that entering an established treatment category deserves a different conversation from inventing a new treatment.

Can a new way of delivering an old medicine still be an innovation?

Absolutely. Making appropriate care easier to obtain can be valuable. Better testing logistics, clearer communication and more dependable follow-up can improve the patient experience. But a new checkout process and a new clinical advance are different achievements. Patients should ask what actually changed: the convenience, the treatment, the quality of care—or some combination.

What should a “new era” in men’s healthcare actually deliver?

In my view, it should deliver a better clinical relationship: time to understand symptoms, a clear explanation of the diagnosis, an individualized plan and someone accountable for follow-through. It should connect hormonal concerns with sexual health, sleep, metabolic health and the patient’s goals. The standard should be whether the care becomes more useful to the man receiving it.

What is the difference between selling access to TRT and providing comprehensive men’s healthcare?

Access gets a patient to a treatment option. Comprehensive care establishes whether that treatment fits, explains the alternatives and keeps evaluating the person over time. The test comes when symptoms persist, results are unexpected or the plan needs to change. Ask any clinic—including mine: who takes responsibility for figuring out what happens next?

Disclosure & Disclaimer: Dr. David Hall is the founder of Fit & Fine Health, which offers services that compete with Hims. This article presents his professional opinions and includes satire about public marketing statements. It is not an assessment of individual Hims clinicians or patient outcomes. Company offerings may change. This content is educational and does not replace individualized medical advice.