The mission of MedShadow is clear: medicines have side effects that can interrupt your life and sometimes harm you — you need to know not only that, but also how to reduce your risk.
Through our independent journalism, MedShadow gives you the facts you need to know on the side effects of medications. We publish informative articles, infographics, downloadables, and videos. We bring to light the alternatives you may have to taking pharmaceutical medications. We discuss how diet, exercise, quality sleep, hydration, and stress management can help manage many symptoms and conditions, providing you options to try before you reach for a drug.
But, the why of what we do may not be as clear to every reader. Each member of our small team has his or her own personal reasons that make this mission a crucial importance. You can read each of our bios under our About Us tab here and understand why the mission is crucial to each of us. From watching our parents struggle with disease, to having challenging conditions ourselves, we all have personal reasons that this mission touches us so deeply. And, yes, we work to make a living, but even more important to me is the “why” we do what we do.
I have worked in the field of journalism for 25 years. I love writing. I love editing. I love informing and educating. I love the variety of topics, the angles, and multitude of ways a story can be told. I enjoy the field itself. But after a few decades of news journalism, during which I worked for major corporations, like the Philadelphia Inquirer and AOL, as well as for small, boutique businesses, and even freelancing as a consultant, social media expert, and blog writer, the shine began to fade.
I wanted more. I wanted to help people. I wanted a purpose. I wanted to use my talents for the betterment of the world, and not just for entertainment or news. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to feel fulfilled.
I am blessed to say I’ve now found that home with MedShadow. Why do I love what we do? Because we are here to help. We want you to understand the harmful effects medications can have. Yes, medications can heal and help, but they can also harm. It is important to know the risks so that you can weigh them against the benefits and make a well-informed decision on your own healthcare and that of your loved ones.
You have the right and privilege to participate in your own health. You choose what medications, treatment options, or therapies you will participate in or not. But, sadly, pharmaceutical companies are for-profit businesses and have a legal responsibility to their shareholders before the patients they serve. Nearly all of the research driving medicine today is sponsored by pharma.
Drug companies advertise in journals and publish articles in those journals to teach doctors what they want them to know. Pharmaceutical influence is everywhere. They are in magazines, on television, online, radio… anywhere they can spread their message of the next great pill to heal all that ails you.
But how can you truly trust any information provided by the precise beneficiary of the sale of that product? Pharma companies are there to make money. They financially benefit by you being ill, you seeking a medical cure, you hoping that next medication will magically rid you of your torments.
Because of the tendrils of pharma throughout the medical field, it can be hard to find true, factual, researched information, free from biases or influence. It is truly an industry in charge of itself, promoting itself, profiting on you.
Don’t get me wrong. Some medications are necessary. Some people would not be alive without them. Diabetics, for example, cannot live without insulin. Yet, is that life-saving, required medication free? Of course not! Pharma still makes a buck, even though there are entire populations that have no choice BUT to purchase these necessary drugs.
Medications can do a lot of good. They save lives, improve lives, and provide for some people the only avenue to sustain a quality, healthy life. But, I know the world lacks well-researched, factual information on these medications. And that is why, in this field of healthcare especially, what we do at MedShadow is important. We focus on independent journalism, free from bias and influence, so that you have a reliable source to turn to when mulling over your next medical choice.
MedShadow not only has a mission that I believe in, that I find crucially important, and am blessed to be a part of, but we do so without any influence from pharma. We do not accept any pharma funding. We do not post advertisements. We go to great lengths to ensure that our sources for articles, our research and studies, our medical advisory and nonprofit board members are all free of conflicts of interest.
Behind the scenes, we work hard to be sure the information we provide our readers is based on scientific research, conducted free from influence. We vet our sources. We scour to find readers, just like yourself, that have experienced the side effects, and even benefits, of medications, so they can offer opinions “direct from the horse’s mouth” and without any sugar-coating by pharma.
Likewise, we work with medical professionals across all levels of the healthcare industry to not only ensure our information is medically sound and accurate, but to also provide commentary of their own experiences in caring for patients, too. They share their medical knowledge to help you make educated choices.
At the end of the day, we do this all for one simple reason: for you! We care about our readers. We want them to understand the facts and to make well-informed, thoroughly-researched decisions when it comes to their own healthcare. You can share this knowledge with your own friends, family, and loved ones. You can protect those that matter to you, too, by having a better understanding of the truth.
You deserve to understand all aspects of your healthcare choices. You should have access to information without the influence of a powerful pharma industry. You can make the best choices for your own life, for your own children, your own family. And, that is what makes what we at MedShadow do so important.
