Research is only valuable when the sample of patients includes people from all groups, but that hasn’t always been their design, and it leaves a gaping hole in the results.
Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash
Years ago, while visiting a major pharmaceutical firm engaged in research all over the United States, I questioned who was in the sample and why it seemed certain groups were missing. I also asked about research in China. The answers came back in a casual manner. “Oh, we can’t get them” or “They’re different from us.” The “us” meant white people, and there is some evidence in certain groups for genetic differences that might affect results in studies, but it was disturbing.