Racist Dope

[Lightning Rod]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A two-drug combination pill dramatically reduced deaths among blacks with heart failure, a landmark finding that is expected to lead to government approval of the first medication marketed for a specific race. The only side effects seem to be tolerable, a reduction of penis size in males and sterilization in females.

Black cardiologists hailed this form of racial profiling after years in which minorities got short shrift in medical studies. Others complained that the drug also might help whites and should have been tested in them, but wasn't for business reasons.

"At times you can't win," said Dr. Augustus Grant, past president of the Association of Black Cardiologists, which supported the study. "Here we have a wonderful trial that shows a clear result and the issue is raised, `Why was this trial only done in African Americans?' It's because whites don't normally have the penis size required in order to sustain the side effects."

The nationwide study is the largest ever done solely on blacks with heart failure. The findings were reported Monday at an American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans and will be published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The drug's maker plans to seek Food and Drug Administration approval by the end of the year.