Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine - Volume 66, Number 4, Page 236

Volume 66 Number 4
September 1999 back to contents

Distrust, Social Justice, and Health Care 236 - 240

Howard McGary, PH.D.

From the Department of Philosophy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and Douglass College, New Brunswick, NJ.
Address correspondence to Howard McGary, Ph.D., Department of Philosophy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08903.

ABSTRACT
What steps, if any, should be taken to eliminate the distrust that many racial minorities feel toward the health care system in the United States? Is this distrust an issue of social justice or should it be viewed as an instance where people unreasonably fail to take advantage of existing opportunities? I argue that this distrust is an issue of social justice and that the state does have an obligation to eliminate or mitigate it, especially in the area of public health.

KEY WORDS
African Americans, AIDS, distrust, health care, justice, racial discrimination, medical ethics, Tuskegee Syphilis Study

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Volume 66 Number 4 September 1999	back to contents

Distrust, Social Justice, and Health Care	236 - 240
Howard McGary, PH.D.
From the Department of Philosophy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and Douglass College, New Brunswick, NJ. Address correspondence to Howard McGary, Ph.D., Department of Philosophy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08903.