Harriet A. Washington

An excellent, thorough, and sickening recounting of how Black people have been abused and used by the medical community for centuries. It is so far beyond the Tuskegee syphilis trials or the Henrietta Lacks genes, this has been systemic failure or purposeful abuse for as long as medicine has existed. And though it is no longer going on in our country (as far as we know), it has moved to the African continent where research is taking place outside the restrictions of our laws. A very important read, especially if you ever questioned why a Black person might be medical treatment hesitant.… (more)

An important read, though coming to it almost two decades after publication also does place the contemporary chapters at the end as a historical set. Densely researched with end notes (I read this as an ebook, so helpfully they were a link away instead of flipping back and forth), should definitely be part of a scientist's bibliography when considering ethical research populations if humans are involved.

Also, this ended up being on the denser side for book club- I did finally finish, but far past the July deadline, whoops.… (more)