Author: Suzanne B. Robotti

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 group, we are supportive of the…

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 horrible headache. It took more than…

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…

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…

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…

As an independent health-driven nonprofit, MedShadow’s mission is to ensure that all people have information on the risks and benefits of medicines and treatments, so they can make the best health care choices for themselves and their families. Separate from any personal, political or religious beliefs, the ruling from the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022 overturning Roe v. Wade has far-reaching health implications.   MedShadow considers pregnancy and abortion solely from the perspective of health care. Pregnancy is not a benign process. It changes every system in the body from circulatory (the amount of blood in your body increases by…

Bob R.’s New York City doctor told him his cholesterol was high and prescribed statins. After taking the statins for two years, Bob was feeling muscle pains and had read about the possible cognitive declines tied to statins. At his next physical, Bob told his doctor he wanted to stop the statins and try exercising a little more, drop a few pounds and see if that lowered his cholesterol. The doctor agreed and noted, “You’re borderline on needing statins anyway.” Yikes! Who knew that? Bob hadn’t questioned the diagnosis or the treatment. He took statins and experienced the side effects,…

When you see a news story or read an article about a drug on a website or TV or in a magazine that has ads for that drug, how independent do you think the facts are in that offering?

Editor’s Note 11/23/2021: Researchers recently published data showing that 41% of patients on the therapeutic dose of Adhuhelm in clinical trials experienced brain bleeds. Fewer than a third of those patients experienced symptoms. The New York Times reported one death under investigation. Some researchers worry that clinical trial participants were much healthier and therefore not representative of patients now likely to be prescribed the drug.  The newly approved drug Aduhelm (aducanumab) won’t cure or reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. It might slow the disease’s progression, but there’s no proof that it will do that either. Even worse is that…