Research Discrimination – Inadequately Tested Populations

The under-representation of any group in a research program amounts, not only to a decrease in study usefulness, it also represents a form of discrimination against the excluded groups. The neglected groups are deprived and disad-vantaged because the overall results from a clinical trial probably do not apply to them. The deprivation is especially focused on demographic attributes such as gender, age, ethnicity and cultural background. Based on these criteria, clinical trials have enlisted volunteers in disproportionate numbers for years and, as a result, their findings apply mainly to a single race (white), a single sex (male) and a single age group (21–55). Consequently, the under-represented groups are left in the dark about the value of new treatments that could help them and the risks they will face from taking recently introduced cannot be adequately understood. Although in recent years, important improvements have been made, the omission of these groups in the past reflects poorly on the medical research community and its passivity to remedy the problem. There is a continuing need to emphasize diversity in clinical trials. The medical research community should work with the FDA and Congress to come up with innovative ways to obtain that diversity.