African American Physicians and Clinical Trials
The National Medical Association has long recognized that lack of involvement by African Americans and other people of color in clinical trials has contributed to health disparities.
Clinical Trials are fundamental to our understanding of proper diagnosis treatment of disease and quality of life.
However, African Americans physicians and patients are underrepresented in important medical research to find treatments for the very diseases that affect them.
Reasons Often Cited for Why African Americans Physicians Do Not Participate
- Lack of Opportunity
- Lack of Awareness (where to start)
- Lack of Time
- Lack of Study Coordinator (support personnel)
- Too much paper work
- Reimbursement Considerations
- Resources/Initial Investment
- No Academic Affiliation
- No Institutional Review Board
- Concern for Patient Safety
- No interest
Why African American Physicians Should Care
Because the clinical research process impacts so much of our lives, e.g. what we think about disease, what we eat, what medicines we take, etc.
- Product development, standard of care
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- Relevance, of data from a drug trial is determined by how well the participants reflect you.
- Product approvals
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- Products are being prescribed for African Americans without data on safety and efficacy. This amounts to an uncontrolled experiment in African Americans for new products hitting the market
- Targeted therapies based on genetics
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- Drugs are becoming more specific for people based on genetic understanding disease. African must be a part of this pool from which drug targets are derived.
- Product approvals based on non-US data
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- When new drugs are marketed based on clinical data from other countries, it is appropriate to be concerned about the relevance of the observations to you as an African American
- Fewer minority physicians as potential investigators
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- Observers of drug safety and efficacy should be culturally competent
- Impact of managed care
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- Managed care formularies should reflect the needs of their diverse population rather than one size fits all
Let Me Know About Clinical Trials
If you are a physician who would like to participate in a trial or want to learn how to conduct a study, we can help. By completing the form below, you will be included in our database and be notified of potential clinical trial opportunities.