Menu
Shedding Light on the Risks
& Benefits of Medications 

Our Founder

Suzanne Robotti

Founder & President of MedShadow & President of DES Action USA

Suzanne Robotti founded MedShadow Foundation in 2013. She writes and speaks extensively on known and lesser known side effects, interactions, and supply chain issues related to OTC and prescription drugs. As a patient safety advocate, Robotti served on the FDA Advisory Committee on Drug Safety and Risk Management as the only consumer representative alongside doctors and pharmacists from 2017-2024.

Robotti’s connection to these issues is deeply personal. Her mother, like millions of other women in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, was prescribed the drug DES (diethylstilbestrol), which the pharmaceutical industry claimed would prevent miscarriages. The drug was widely prescribed to pregnant women despite earlier publication of studies that linked DES to reproductive organ malformation and cancers.

DES was eventually contra-indicated for pregnant women in 1971, but it had already been given to 5-10 million pregnant women. When Robotti reached childbearing age herself, she discovered she was infertile due in utero DES exposure. This prompted her to join DES Action USA, a patient advocacy group, which voted to move under the MedShadow Foundation umbrella in 2015.

Robotti is committed to bringing the issue of medication side effects into the public discourse and regularly writes about the FDA drug approval process and current trends in the pharmaceutical industry. She has given presentations on the changing effects drugs have on the aging body, how the FDA approves drugs and many related topics on many podcasts and in person to the general public, health journalists and medical professionals. She also serves on the advisory board of Pace University’s College of Health Professionals.

READ MY ARTICLES

In Her Own Words

I started MedShadow in large part because my nephew had been diagnosed with ADHD. As his guardians, his healthcare was our responsibility, so I did some research.  I discovered there were no studies on the long-term effects of ADHD medicines at that time. As I scoured the internet for more information, I realized just how many health news websites accepted pharmaceutical advertising, and wondered just how neutral they could be in their reporting under that financial arrangement. The vast majority of patient advocacy groups also accept donations from pharmaceutical companies, causing me to question their independence.

The pressure was on us to give our nephew ADHD meds, but I know from my own exposure to DES that drugs can have unexpected long-term effects. I wasn’t going to expose my nephew to unknown risks when it wasn’t a life or death situation. This led me to explore integrative medicine for the first time – therapies ranging from cognitive to physical, nutrition, exercise as energy focus/release, acupuncture and so much more). Since then, my family and I have used a combination of western and integrative medicine.

I started MedShadow soon after my search for ADHD information. I know that advocating for yourself and your family is impossible if information on adverse events, side effects and options are minimized or withheld. I launched MedShadow to give you the information on most common drugs that you need to make informed decisions.

It’s been famously said, “information wants to be free.” Our information is free, but getting it out to you costs money. If you find our content helpful, please support our work and make a donation.