In her Open Letters blog, which I hadn’t seen before but which is a very cool idea, Karama talks to representatives of Schering-Plough about their trial and concludes:
My current research focuses on ethical and scientifically-responsible uses of race in biomedical research. The information I have suggests that this is not an ethical or scientifically-responsible use of race. As I noted in the original letter, defining ‘race’ is a complex issue that cannot be accomplished using only biological or scientific means. That makes the concept of ‘race’ particularly difficult to use in biomedical research, especially since it is a very real social concept that correlates strongly with certain health indicators. It is my position that this study, like many others, misuses the concept of ‘race’.
