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It's still very difficult to convince black people to partake in medical trials, largely because their trust in the system was so thoroughly violated in the not

It's still very difficult to convince black people to partake in medical trials, largely because their trust in the system was so thoroughly violated in the not-so-distant past: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study It's not hard to imagine a patient noping out of an experiment if he's the token black guy in a room full of white doctors poking and prodding at him. I work for a company that makes medical devices for people with diabetes, (a disease which disproportionately affects people of color), and we go out of our way to ensure that we have a diverse cast of people who interact with the patients in our studies.

spoopyskelly 6y ago
Is diabetes racist?
runamok 6y ago
I see the Tuskegee example trotted out pretty often and frankly I was ignorant of it. Is this a well known and discussed thing among black people or might it be more about a general distrust of the government, etc. and as you pointed out, being historically under represented in medicine. I am just guessing a fairly small people asked about Tuskegee would know what it is but maybe it's just me. I am just suggesting maybe asking black people why they don't want a covid vaccine for example and address those issues.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
  Yes, the Tuskegee study is well known among black Americans, and it's been written about extensively. They've even shown that the study might be responsible for as much as half of the life expectancy gap between white and black American men today, because it directly led to mistrust of the medical establishment and caused black men to avoid going to the doctor. That said, I recently read that most black people (falsely) believe that the Tuskegee subjects were deliberately infected with syphilis, but I can't find the source right now, and it's kind of splitting hairs anyway.

spoopyskelly 6y ago

Is diabetes racist?

runamok 6y ago

I see the Tuskegee example trotted out pretty often and frankly I was ignorant of it. Is this a well known and discussed thing among black people or might it be more about a general distrust of the government, etc. and as you pointed out, being historically under represented in medicine. I am just guessing a fairly small people asked about Tuskegee would know what it is but maybe it's just me. I am just suggesting maybe asking black people why they don't want a covid vaccine for example and address those issues.

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
Yes, the Tuskegee study is well known among black Americans, and it's been written about extensively. They've even shown that the study might be responsible for as much as half of the life expectancy gap between white and black American men today, because it directly led to mistrust of the medical establishment and caused black men to avoid going to the doctor. That said, I recently read that most black people (falsely) believe that the Tuskegee subjects were deliberately infected with syphilis, but I can't find the source right now, and it's kind of splitting hairs anyway.