Suzanne Robotti founded MedShadow Foundation in 2012 after two major health issues drove her to become engaged in patient advocacy. Robotti’s mother, like millions of other pregnant women in the 50s, 60s and early 70s took the drug DES (diethylstilbestrol) to prevent miscarriage and early labor. It did neither and instead left the pregnant women, children and descendants at risk for rare cancers, reproductive organ abnormalities and other serious medical conditions. In 2010, Robotti’s son was prescribed Ritalin for ADHD, but when the doctor was unable to reference any studies on the long-term effects of the drug, she decided against it. This raised a concern in her that parents were not aware of the lack of studies and this is an issue of informed consent. Soon after she decided to start MedShadow because so many people are not aware of the lack of information on the long-term effects of drugs. MedShadow is a means of raising the discussion of risks alongside benefits of medicines into the public discourse.
