Author: Suzanne B. Robotti

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

Is your cholesterol high? Has your doctor suggested you might be at risk for heart disease? If so, you have some decisions to make. You need to know that you can likely improve your health and lower your cholesterol by simple lifestyle changes like exercise and changing your diet. You also will likely have the option of taking a statin. The fact that people have choices in their health care is very important and something we explore at MedShadow, an online nonprofit I founded to inform the public about the side effects, risks and benefits of medicine, both prescription and…

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Does it really make sense to put a large group of people on a drug whose effectiveness hasn’t been proven for that group? What at first looked like a creeping increase in statin prescriptions is turning into a gallop. Despite the significant and life-altering side effects that this class of cholesterol-lowering drugs can cause, the USPSTF (US Preventative Services Task Force) is likely to approve a broadening of the group of adults for whom statins are recommended — without including a recommendation to try lifestyle changes to lower cholesterol first. The USPSTF is proposing that any healthy adult between the ages…

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My husband has been on statins for several years. He started on Lipitor (atorvastatin), but his doctor switched him to simvastatin a while ago. Six months ago, my husband’s doctor switched him back to Lipitor because $4 coupons were available making Lipitor much less expensive. The timing was not coincidental. One of the big surprises in the pharmaceutical community has been Lipitor’s ability to remain a player after going off patent. Usually a brand name drug loses 90% of the market to less expensive generic drugs. Now, 4 months after expiration of patent protection, Lipitor still has about 30% of…

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It’s not easy being a consumer. The information available to the public is often contradictory and confusing. For example, take the issue of statins (Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor, etc.). There are many known side effects of statins, some beneficial, some not so much. When reading on-line discussions of statin side effects, there are many who complain of sexual dysfunction caused by statins. However, a recent study claims that statins help cure erectile dysfunction. Huh? How can it both help and hurt sexual function? After reviewing the research available to consumers (the staff at MedShadow is made up of consumers like you), it…

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