The leading causes of death in the United States (U.S.) are heart disease and strokes.…
Author: Suzanne B. Robotti
Suzanne is the President and Founder of MedShadow, and the Executive Director of DES Action USA. MedShadow’s mission is to preserve quality of life by ensuring everyone has access to the risks, benefits and alternates to using drugs to manage healthcare. Read More
Makena Won’t Die
Makena Off The Market This past weekend I had a horrifying conversation. My husband and I were at a garden party in Central Park, New York, enjoying the early evening breeze and chatting with other guests. A woman we just met mentioned she was a nurse, working in an infertility clinic run by her OB/GYN husband. I mentioned what I do and how happy I was that Makena was now off the market. Makena, a synthetic progesterone hormone, was given “fast track” approval by the FDA about ten years ago because early studies indicated it might help women carry births…
How You Can Solve America’s Healthcare Crisis
This isn’t another lengthy blog on the multitude of problems with America’s healthcare system. Well, OK, maybe it is. But, instead of just droning on about the countless ways the system could improve (because, let’s face it, there are plenty), what if there was a way you could make a difference? It doesn’t take a massive donation of finances. It doesn’t take writing to or running for Congress. It doesn’t take lobbyists or legal battles. It just takes you. John Q. (or Jane Q.) Public can make a difference. Want to know more? Keep reading. Just How Bad Is America’s…
The Pill – 60th Anniversary As I write this, it is one day after the 60th anniversary of the first oral birth control that was approved for use in the United States. It was part of the sexual revolution of the 1960s and access to “The Pill,” as it was called, famously separated sex from procreation. “Oh pish posh,” you say, there were many types of contraceptives available for hundreds of years, maybe thousands. The Pill, however, was dramatically more effective than other birth control methods available until then. Here’s a diagram from Perrigo Company (manufacturer of OPill) illustrating that…
Judge vs. FDA: Drug Safety and Effectiveness
A Texas judge recently decided that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a drug that has been used for 23 years safely was wrongly made and that the drug should not be allowed to be used. It doesn’t matter what drug it is and it doesn’t matter that the judge’s decision was riddled with inaccuracies, loaded phrasing, and partisan wording. What matters is who decides what drug is safe and effective to use. And who do you think is trained to make those decisions? Who has a process in place for evaluation? And, who is the leading organization…
Advice for FDA Drug Approvals
FDA Drug Approvals & Advisory Committees Do you want drugs to get to the market faster? Is safety a higher priority for you? What about who gives advice to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), should it only be people who have no financial conflict of interest? I had the opportunity to meet with Robert Calif, Commissioner of the FDA, a couple of weeks ago. I went as MedShadow’s representative member of the Patient, Consumer, and Health Coalition, a group of organizations that educate, inform, and empower those concerned with the overuse of medicines and medical devices. As a…
Su Takes on Motion Sickness
Motion Sickness .. Mal De Mer I spend a lot of time preaching to people to depend less on medicines, more on lifestyle changes, milder drugs, alternatives. But not when it comes to my pain! I’ve had motion sickness my whole life. Mal de mer, (other words for motion sickness). I’ve had it all and it sucks. As Mark Twain said, “At first you’re afraid you’re going to die, then you are afraid you aren’t.” Long flight or short, by the time I’d get off the plane I was jelly-kneed, covered in sweat, needed a bathroom desperately, deep into a…
Prescribing a drug to a person who does not need that drug is unconscionable – I mean that word in the old-fashioned sense of an act being done by a person with no conscience. When I was a child, Jiminy Cricket was a regular visitor in cartoons on Saturday mornings. He’d perch on a character’s shoulder and whisper, “you know you should not do this.” Woe to those who ignored Jiminy Cricket’s warnings, as there were always bad consequences. A Sorry State of Our Union This week, in his State of the Union address, President Biden told America that “We’re…
Can a Supplement Stop My Ears from Ringing?
A friend asked me the following question: “I believe I have tinnitus. I believe it might be linked to long covid. I wondered if you could have a look at this link and please tell me if you heard of this and what your organization thinks about it. I didn’t buy it. Thanks so much.” A link to a video about a supplement called Silencil was attached. When I clicked on it, my computer malware popped up a warning, but I overrode it on the theory that my friend had already gone to the site and her computer had not…
Makena Presented to the FDA as a Drug That Might Lower The Preterm Birth Rate On Monday this week I testified as a public speaker at the FDA/CDC hearing evaluating the research the manufacturers of Makena have presented. Makena was presented to the FDA as a drug that might lower the rate of preterm birth. Because preterm births have no other drug therapy available (but there are nondrug protocols with research to support their use), Makena was approved through the “Accelerated Pathway” process. That required Makena to conduct additional research to prove it is both effective and safe. The manufacturer…
Uninformed Consent, A Healthy Skeptic’s Take
I finally finished the entire film, Uninformed Consent (great title), and I have a lot to say about it. It is produced, written, and edited (and filmed!) by Todd Michael Harris. Vaccine Choice Canada and Children’s Health Defense are both credited as executive producers. Both of these organizations have public positions that include skepticism of all vaccines. For example, the institutions have both promoted views tying autism speculation to long-used and well-tolerated vaccines – which are a key part of the dramatic increase in the length of average human life over the past 50-plus years. The film challenges the safety…
About MedShadow
MedShadow Foundation is an independent nonprofit health & wellness journalism organization focused on helping to protect lives from the side effects of medication and lower risk with alternative health options.
We help protect your life and the lives of your family by making sure you have the information you need to make informed decisions about the risks, benefits and alternatives to medicines.
Even though MedShadow is nonprofit, we refuse to accept support from pharmaceutical companies or medical device manufacturers. You can be sure that our information is free from the influence of pharmaceutical companies.
FIND ARTICLES
Conditions
Symptoms & Concerns
Medications
SUPPORT
Contribute
Donate
Contact
MedShadow Foundation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information.
MedShadow Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. MedShadow does not accept advertising or contributions from pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers or political action organizations.
Copyright © 2022, MedShadow Foundation. all rights reserved. Designed by Dante Steward