Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine - Volume 66, Number 4, Page 280

Volume 66 Number 4
September 1999 back to contents

African Americans and the Medical Establishment 280 - 281

Cheryl Smith, M.D.

From the AIDS Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY.
Address correspondence to Cheryl Smith, M.D., AIDS Center, Box 1009, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1 East 100th Street, New York, NY 10029.

ABSTRACT
The African American community's response to the AIDS epidemic has reflected the profound mistrust of the medical establishment which many African Americans feel. Among African Americans, the belief that the epidemic originated in a genocidal plot is widespread. It is thought that organized medicine has been significantly involved in this plot. If we look at African Americans' historical relationship to the medical establishment from the era of slavery to the recent past, the suspicious attitudes which make such beliefs possible can be seen as an intelligible response to a new disease which disproportionately affects African Americans.

Successful medical and public health responses to the epidemic have depended and will continue to depend upon overcoming the historical legacy of suspicion and gaining the trust of the community.

KEY WORDS
African Americans, AIDS, history of medicine, medical ethics, Tuskegee Syphilis Study

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Volume 66 Number 4 September 1999	back to contents

African Americans and the Medical Establishment	280 - 281
Cheryl Smith, M.D.
From the AIDS Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY. Address correspondence to Cheryl Smith, M.D., AIDS Center, Box 1009, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1 East 100th Street, New York, NY 10029.