The article, “In Cancer Trials, Minorities Face Extra Hurdles,” gives testimony of individual cases as well as a conflict perspective in the healthcare industry for cancer patients and trials. In this essay I will aim to demonstrate the dynamics involved in cancer study trials, furthermore, demonstrating the conflict between social and racial inequality for cancer patients. II. Explanation of Cancer Trials and Minorities In the article “In Cancer Trials, Minorities Face Extra Hurdles,” Al Drago illustrates how minorities are institutionally discriminated against. Drago gives several reasons why cancer trials are disproportionately white, how researchers are aware of this inequality and trying to correct the problem. One and perhaps the biggest …show more content…
The greatest factor within health care between social and racial divides is that of a socioeconomic status. The rich are given more opportunities and advantages than the poor, a common history that is also found between white and minorities. Minorities make up a majority of the lower-class society due to oppression and lack of opportunities that can be used to gain upward social mobility. The elite and upper-class are more readily available to gain intellect about current medical trials that show advancement in health issues. The elite are educated and they have financial strengths that allow them advantages that the lower-class lack. While there are other integrated factors, such as, underlying health issues and racial disparities the main issue is socioeconomic status. In Marxism theory this would be comparable in that the bourgeoisie are exploiting the proletarians by not providing adequate healthcare opportunities. Additionally, W.E.B. DuBois would use the color line theory, by showing that there is a pure divide between races. The lower-social class is mostly those of racial and ethnic backgrounds and therefore this divide in social class is also a racial class
Medical researcher, Dr. Leonard Egede, wrote "Race, Ethnicity, culture and disparities in healthcare," published in June of 2006 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. He explains that patients of minority ethnicity experience greater morbidity and mortality from different chronic diseases than non- minorities. In his article, minority patients are more vulnerable populations and include groups that do not receive health care services. According to Dr. Egede, the Institution of Medicine (IOM) racial and ethnic disparities still exist in health care, since they are connected with worse outcomes in many cases, are not acceptable. Also, IOM reports that there are some interesting views in regard to comprehending and recognizing the sources of disparities, assisting factors, planning and measuring effective interventions to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The role of IOM is significant because it provides suggestions and directs the importance of data collection that impacts
Today, one of the leading problems discussed in politics is healthcare. America constantly struggles with their healthcare system to make it affordable and accessible to communities. In the twentieth century this same problem also existed, creating one of the most well-known African American activist groups in America. In the book Body and Soul by Alondra Nelson, it discusses the social inequalities of the healthcare system in America and how the Black Panther Party fought against medical discrimination for African Americans. Nelson talks about how the Black Panther Party went from the role of protecting black citizens to a larger political role in African American health care. The significance of this book applies to medical sociology in many ways and is essential to the understanding of providing better healthcare to future generations. In the following book review, it includes a summary of each chapter to highlight the main points, some of the very many medical sociology concepts that could be applied, and lastly an evaluation of the book as a whole and its significance to our course.
He also expressed his thoughts on racism in medicine. He explains reasoned analysis of racially driven information, why black people are afraid of taking medical aid and about his experience as a black doctor practicing, and his interactions with black and white patients, where black people are afraid of doctors where as white not trusting a black doctor. He explains about project LEAD a breast cancer advocacy group founded by Dr. Susan where all the members in this group are trained with a special curriculum using science, statistics and epidemiology. They teach about latest treatments of breast cancer and all about it. Author repeatedly refers to audience in many occasions to fight for the cause of right information and better health care.
Finally, advocates of race-based medicine claim that the scientific underpinnings are irrelevant if a medication is proven to be effective for a particular group. In such a way, race-based medicine is a short-term solution, treating the symptoms of race-related disease without understanding the
Like previously stated, there has been a vast history of racial issues particularly in the medical field. These issues have led to minorities, especially African Americans, to not trust medical professionals and procedures. A study found in the Archives of Internal Medicine gives shocking results by stating that “African Americans were far less trusting than whites of the medical establishment and medical researchers in particular. African Americans were 79.2 percent more likely to believe that someone like them would be used as a guinea pig without his or her consent” (Clark 118). There are many cases in the past which would make a minority feel neglected and like a “guinea pig”. For instance, Henrietta Lacks, the main character of Rebecca Skloot’s book, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951. Her doctors were shocked at the terrifying rate her tumor was growing (Skloot 117). Her cells were taken from her cervix and they were distributed world wide without her or her family’s consent. The distribution went on for years even after her death
My sophomore scholar's research project thoroughly investigated the history of medical abuses against African-Americans. I researched racism in medicine dating back to slavery through the 1990’s, and I found astounding medical injustices against the African-American community. My
In the introduction to the article, Marc Nivet, the Chief Diversity Officer for the AAMC, wrote “the inability to find, engage, and develop candidates for careers in medicine from all our members of society limits our ability to improve healthcare for all 3. Diversity in medicine will benefit people in all races, genders, and ethnicities, and will provide an increase in the quality of healthcare for the United States population. A new generation of minority physicians is a step towards eliminating health inequalities for the rapidly changing United States population 4. Consequently, more minority physicians will lead to an increase in racial minority participation in clinical research. According to the National Cancer Institute, more white people participate in their studies, despite the higher mortality rate of African Americans due to cancer 5. By solving the issue of diversity in medicine, especially the issue with the decline of African American males, the medical community can make huge advances in the ability to provide high quality healthcare for
Since the publication of the Institute of Medicine’s “Unequal Treatment Report” in 2002, highlighting the startling but harsh truths behind these health care differences, there has been a renewed interest in understanding the sources of these inconsistencies, with any seeking to identify contributing factors in hopes of creating an effective solution in reducing or eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care
There are many people who say that we are living in a post racial society in the United States today and there are aspects of life in which that seems to be true. Yet there are many areas of life however in which race still is an important divider that has a major impact on the experiences of the minority peoples in the United States. In 2010, about 41% of the U.S. population identified themselves as members of racial or ethnic minority groups. According to the Centers for Disease Control, compared to non-minorities, some minorities experience a disproportionate level of preventable disease, death and disability (. http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/populations/remp.html ).
Although the United States is a leader in healthcare innovation and spends more money on health care than any other industrialized nation, not all people in the United State benefit equally from this progress as a health care disparity exists between racial and ethnic minorities and white Americans. Health care disparity is defined as “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social or economic disadvantage…adversely affecting groups of people who have systematically experienced greater social and/or economic obstacles to health and/or clean environment based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion” (National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities [NPAEHD], 2011, p. 3). Overwhelming evidence shows that racial and ethnic minorities receive inferior quality health care compared to white Americans, and multiple factors contribute to these disparities, including geography, lack of access to adequate health coverage, communication difficulties between patients and providers, cultural barriers, and lack of access to providers (American College of Physicians,
Given that new racism masks racial predisposition, current racism restrains the public from addressing ethical issues and from creating social improvements. By “[u]ndermining or disguising the impact of racism on racialized health disparities,” the AJPH editorial on “Black Lives Matter: A Commentary on Racism and Public Health” notes that “the perpetuation of these inequities” (Garcia et al. 27) initiates constant ignorance and does not lessen the problems of racism. Instead, racism falls into institutional categories that globally spreads to cultivate its immoral notion. Persistently oblivious to racism, society adapts to malicious racist dispositions as it denies the presence of racism. On the other hand, the journal article “The Past, Present, and Future of Informed Consent in Research and Translational Medicine” mentions the emerging issues of bioethics from past and future complications (Susan M. Wolf et al. 9). Emphasizing concerns on informed consent, the researchers call on the complex issues by exposing how decision-making affects professionals and their participants. Discussing future innovations, the researchers assert that professionals must carry the participants’ choice in a methodical fashion that aims to protect individual rights. As patient advocates, professionals must respect patient privacy, private ownership, and informed consent. Therefore, affirmative action offers a
In the field of health care there is a pervasive notion that many blacks are presumed to be low income. It is interesting to see how blackness is associated with low income and class. For example, questions regarding where black patients reside and what their current occupation is can be directly linked to racial profiling in health care. The author contends black patients are more likely to receive a lower quality of health care due to one’s insurance status and income. Here, too, one can maintain that race is deeply interwoven into the construct of class and accessibility (Smedly 2012). As a result, class serves a higher purpose of being granted access to the accessibility of better medical resources and standard of care. Conversely, the construct of class not only gives and takes away in its relation to recieving appropriate resources in
One of the points raised in IOM’s article to prove that racism is a prevalent cause of health care disparity is the way the health care system is set-up, meaning at times, some hospitals and clinics can adopt a policy to contain health care cost, but may pose hindrances to minority patients’ capability to access the care.
The black report found that people of a lower social class are less likely to use health services and screening such as visiting the dentist, immunisation, family planning and antenatal care. Going to see a doctor is a more “middle class” thing to do and people who are in a lower class have a more “toughen up” attitude towards being ill. Middle and upper class people tend to spend longer with the doctors as they “speak” the same language they maybe more educated to understand the scientific terminology that the doctor uses. Lower class people may feel their lifestyles will be judged by health professionals and looked down upon, this leads to ill health left untreated and will cause it to get worse. Often poverty stricken people never get the help they need and die from an illness that could have been cured if it was treated. This leads to shorter life expectancy’s and more cases illnesses amongst the
The main purpose of this article was to unexamined biases, to see how much they contribute as well as to address ethnic and racial in health care disparities. Biases can be referred to as favoritism, a favor of one and against another, very systematic and differing by racial and ethnic groups. Many psychologist has turned their focus and studies on common biases, which biases influence medical decisions and interaction.