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As the latest information about COVID-19, monkeypox virus, polio, and other health concerns and issues continues to spread, one doctor noted that healthcare is much like a product.
Dr. Alexander Salerno, a physician in New Jersey, told Fox News Digital:
Salerno works for Salerno Medical Associates, a second-generation, family-owned clinic serving East Orange and Newark.
He told Fox News Digital that trust is the “glue” between doctors and patients, especially in underserved communities.
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“Decreased trust leads to patients not following treatment and screening recommendations, leading to reactive health care as opposed to preventative care,” he said.
Many working Americans have limited paid time off to go to the doctor, he said.
In addition to making care more accessible, he said, “Reducing chores would go a long way toward increasing trust.”
In the infamous Tuskegee Experiment, the federal government left a group of black men in rural Alabama untreated for 40 years for syphilis for research purposes.
Some doctors and medical experts believe that the knowledge of the infamous Tuskegee experiment from 1972 continues to influence today.
This year, 2022, will mark the 50th anniversary of the public first learning that the federal government denied proper treatment for syphilis to a group of black men with active syphilis.
COVID-19 vaccine skepticism lurks in town notorious for syphilis experiments
Why did you withhold treatment? Discover how infectious diseases naturally progress in the human body over 40 years.
On July 25, 1972, the Associated Press carried news that, as the AP itself noted, “shocked America’s medical establishment.”
The federal government left hundreds of black men in rural Alabama without treatment for syphilis for 40 years for research purposes, reports Jean Heller of the Associated Press.
Public outcry ensued, and the “Tuskegee Syphilis Study” was terminated after three months.
The men filed a lawsuit, resulting in a $9 million settlement, and then-President Bill Clinton formally apologized years later, on May 16, 1997 to be exact.
Yet the study is routinely cited as a reason why some African Americans are reluctant to participate in medical research or even go to the doctor for regular checkups.
Why there is COVID-19 vaccine skepticism in the black community
“In the context of the history of the end of the famous Tuskegee Experiment, black and brown citizens were reluctant to participate in clinical trials, delaying emergency medical care for treatable illnesses and making them available by the time they presented. It’s gotten to the point where there are few, if any, options available,” Dr. Christopher L. Edwards, a former associate professor of medicine at Duke University, recently told Fox News Digital.
Details and history
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 1932 the U.S. Public Health Service began a study of black men in the Tuskegee, Alabama area, which had the highest incidence of syphilis at the time.
“This was originally called the ‘Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in Black Men’ (now called the ‘USPHS Syphilis Study in Tuskegee’),” the health agency said on its website.
Left untreated, syphilis can lead to serious complications, including organ damage.
“The study originally enrolled 600 black men, 399 of whom had syphilis and 201 of whom did not,” the CDC added. informed consent was not collected”.
Left untreated, syphilis can lead to serious complications. Complications include organ damage to the brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones, and joints, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The Tuskegee study “is one of the main reasons people in minority communities continue to distrust doctors and public health efforts like the COVID-19 vaccine,” says Dr. Edwards.
“Health disparities are manifestations of intentional or unintentional differences in clinical outcomes based on clinician and patient characteristics,” Edwards said.
He is a national expert on factors affecting minority and black health status and founded the Urban Healthcare Initiative Program, a community-based health and education provider.
“Without trust, patients have little reason to follow their doctor’s advice. It’s not hard to see why that’s a concern.”
“When known outcome differences are not addressed, the most negatively affected people codify a historical distrust of physicians and health care institutions.”
trust is the key
Dr. Salerno suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic, along with often inconsistent public health messaging, has exacerbated issues of trust in health professionals.
“When you compare that to how amiable ambassadors like Magic Johnson were with HIV, you see the value of coherence and the amount of scary stories,” Salerno noted.
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But an ambassador could be a “pastor or hairdresser” or other everyday people. Because there is real value in “educating people about diabetes and other chronic diseases” from people with relevant backgrounds.
“People literally trust their doctors for their health and life,” Salerno said.
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“Without trust, patients have little reason to follow their doctor’s advice. It’s not hard to see why that’s a concern.”
The Associated Press contributed a report to this article.