Apology, Medicine, and Black Americans

According to the latest news, the COVID vaccination rate among Black Americans is still significantly lower than white Americans.  Moreover, health metrics in general for Black Americans significantly lag behind white Americans.  Black Americans need American medicine, but our Black friends and colleagues have a significant mistrust of American medicine, especially American medical research.  

A couple months ago I read Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington -- this tomb lays bare why Black people have significant and legitimate fears about American medicine.  This mistrust dates back to slavery, and it is much bigger than the Tuskegee syphilis experiments.  As a patient safety advocate, I identify with this fear and mistrust, as many patients and families who have experienced medical errors can become equally apprehensive and even hateful of organized medicine.    

I recently wrote an essay for BMJ Medical Ethics about the need for apology with Black Americans.  I hope you will take some time to read this article and reflect upon it this weekend.  We need to acknowledge this history and the legitimate fears of medicine held by our Black neighbors.  Ultimately, what I am calling for is more than a "sorry" from a politician or legislative body, but a sustained course of empathy from the medical community.  

I hope this article adds to the continuing discussion in our country.   Have a good weekend. 

Sincerely,

- Doug

Doug Wojcieszak, President and Founder
Sorry Works!
doug@sorryworks.net (direct e-mail) 
618-559-8168 (direct e-mail)