MedShadow Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving and protecting your life by researching and explaining the hidden and minimized side effects of both over-the-counter and prescription drugs, thereby giving you the ability to make fully informed decisions for yourself and your family. We also advocate for regulatory bodies to work hard to prioritize patient safety in the research, creation, and administering of drugs. To do this, we produce high-quality and independent journalism and video on our website and across multiple digital and social channels. MedShadow operates free of any pharmaceutical funding or influence. We reach millions, empowering people to make fully informed decisions using science-based research and expert guidance.
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Why You Should Care About The Side Effects of Medication
Every medicine has a side effect. So does every herbal remedy, vitamin, supplement, etc. A side effect is any unintended reaction.
“In America, prescription drugs are the fourth leading cause of death alongside stroke” – Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2013 – Vol 14 No. 3
- Ibuprofen is effective at relieving muscle aches but using too much can create liver damage in just three days.
- Lavender essential oils have properties that relieve anxiety, but can cause estrogen surges in infants (babies with breasts!).
- Statins lower cholesterol, but cause muscle aches and pains, increase your risk of diabetes, and might affect your cognitive reasoning.
But that’s what happens to other people, most of us don’t worry about side effects until it happens to them. But it happened to me, Suzanne, the founder of MedShadow. Before I was born, my mother was prescribed a drug that was supposed to help her pregnancy. Instead, it affected the fetus’ fertility organs.The drug affected my fertility organs, leaving me without the ability to bear a child. That drug was given to about five million pregnant women before it was finally banned in pregnancy.
Side effects are personal. They happen to real people and to a lot of people.
- Read about Kim’s heartbreak when her husband Woody suffered the undisclosed and devastating side effects antidepressants; or
- Rachel’s story about the harms that women aren’t warned about with breast implants; or
- Andrew’s search for help with his military service related injuries when traditional medicines couldn’t help.
There are more than 2 million serious adverse drug reactions in hospitals yearly, leading to more than 100,000 deaths. (Source: Lazarou J et al. JAMA 1998;279:1200–1205) Side effect awareness, management, and avoidance can change that number. Thank you for reading.
