[DOWNLOAD] "Epistemic Trafficking: On the Concept of Race-Specific Medicine." by English Studies in Canada # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free

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eBook details

• Title: Epistemic Trafficking: On the Concept of Race-Specific Medicine.
• Author : English Studies in Canada
• Release Date : January 01, 2010
• Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines,Books,Professional & Technical,Education,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 230 KB

Description

In JUNE 2005, THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) announced its approval of the drug BiDil, designed to treat heart disease in patients who self-identify as African-American exclusively and, with this decision, "race-specific" medicine was established as the FDA became the first regulatory body to approve a medication for therapeutic use in a specific racial group. Manufactured by the pharmaceutical corporation NitroMed, BiDil is comprised of two generic drugs, isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine, which had been commonly prescribed to treat heart failure prior to the creation of BiDil as a "two-in-one" pill (Kahn, "Race" Wi). The composition of BiDil is not novel and thus cannot be conceived of as a medical breakthrough. Further, the scientific conduct that paved the way for the FDA's approval of BiDil for use in African-American populations was particularly suspect: the clinical trials conducted by NitroMed to test the effectiveness of BiDil on patients predisposed to heart disease were accessible only to African-American participants (Kahn, "Ethnic Drugs"). By carrying out the trials in this manner, NitroMed was able to guarantee its desired outcome. Unless the drug proved to be ineffective in treating heart disease--an outcome that was extremely unlikely, considering the longstanding proven effectiveness of both isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine as separate therapies--it was inevitable that the results of the trials would indicate the successful creation of a race-specific drug since the only participants in the trial were African-American and BiDil was known to be effective in treating heart disease in humans generally. Thus, NitroMed was able to produce results proving the effectiveness of BiDil in African-American populations. As Jonathan Kahn notes: For the moment, I will bracket the most obvious objection to NitroMed's dubious practices: the accusation of essentialism. Although this is inestimably important, it remains a secondary consideration until I contend with the social and political implications of the FDA's approval of BiDil. Thus, rather than putting forth questions concerning the criteria employed by NitroMed for inclusion in their constructed category of "African-Americanness" (recognizing the absurdity of any mode of thinking that puts forth a conception of racial purity), I periodize the emergence of race-specific medicine and draw attention to the particular discursive constructions through which this practice produces meaning.

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