ENCORE: Balancing Drug Risks and Benefits, Part 1




Intelligent Medicine show

Summary: MedShadow.org is a website devoted to critical evaluation of drugs and therapies to empower medical consumers. Its founder, Suzanne Robotti, was prompted to start the MedShadow Foundation when her son was prescribed Ritalin for ADHD. She questioned the doctor whether there were any long-term studies on side effects for ADHD medications--there were none. Suzanne weighs in on the pros and cons of the HPV vaccine; drawbacks of the popular asthma drug Advair; unnecessary and potentially dangerous medical tests; how to properly research drug side effects; food as medicine; medical marijuana; and the Choose Wisely Campaign which aims to enlist the public in curtailing useless or obsolete medical interventions.