Should Doctors Take Into Account Human Races? A Medical Ethics Approach

Abstract

Racial determinations that lead to race-based treatments and mistreatments have many harmful social effects. When used in the practice of medicine, can racial determinants lead to good outcomes? This is an emerging question in medical ethics. It is undoubtedly true that some individuals are more genetically prone to some diseases than others. However, should one rush to judgment with the belief that race may be a valid indicator in identifying diseases an individual is susceptible to? Furthermore, should race be considered in prescribing treatment? Illnesses such as sickle cell-anemia and Tay Sachs disease have long been thought to have a racial origin. This assumption is challenged in this paper. There have also been attempts to prescribe specific drugs for specific racial groups; but this is approach call for further inquiry. Belief in the presupposition that disease is a bio-psycho-social process implies that genetic predispositions are only one factor among many others that relate to the way things are socially constructed. This paper seeks to critique one’s view of the use of race as a criterion of medicine to prescribe treatment.