Black Women Aren’t Asked To Be In Clinical Trials

By Anissa Durham, Word in Black

“Black people in clinical trials.” That’s not a phrase you hear very often. In fact, the media has often said Black folks are afraid to participate in clinical trials because of historical medical mistreatment.  

But a new survey by health communications company GCI Health of 500 Black women in 38 states says something different.  

It’s not that Black women are unwilling to participate in clinical trials; it’s that no one ever asks.  

Kianta Key, group senior vice president and author of the GCI health report, tells Word In Black that researching this started with a conversation she had with her mother. Key asked if she had ever participated in a clinical trial — her mother said no one had ever asked. But, if anyone did, she would consider it.  

“We’ve been making assumptions about Black women and allowing that to guide what we do. And it’s been wrong. The data shows that it’s not correct,” Key says. 

Learn how patients may be invited to clinical trials–and why Black women aren’t included.

Providers also fail to give Black women information.

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