Advocacy

Society Pushes AMA to Reduce Minority Health Disparities in Clinical Research

Endocrine Insider
November 21, 2007

Last week, during the semi-annual meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD) in Honolulu, HI, The Endocrine Society’s delegation advocated strongly for a Society-sponsored resolution to increase minority participation in clinical trials.

The resolution, which was introduced by the Society and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), was based on the Society’s white paper “Increasing Minority Participation in Clinical Research” and directed the AMA to support the Society’s advocacy efforts to:

  • Request that the FDA establish an Office of Minority Health to supervise the implementation of NIH-like guidelines on the inclusion of women and minority populations in clinical trials undertaken for FDA drug approvals.
  • Encourage Congress to require that clinical trials for FDA approval of drugs include women and minorities.

The Society’s AMA delegation, Drs. Robert Vigersky, Susan Sherman, and Vineeth Mohan, made a compelling case for AMA support of the measure and secured the backing of numerous other organizations at the HOD. Organizations speaking in support of the resolution included the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the Endocrine Section Council, several state medical societies, and the 130+-member Specialty and Service Society. The resolution was referred to the AMA Board of Trustees, which will study the proposal further and issue a report with its recommendation regarding AMA support in advance of the next AMA HOD meeting in June 2008.

In the meantime, the Society will continue to advocate for the recommendations within the white paper to improve the participation of racial and ethnic minorities in clinical research. The white paper will be available online at http://www.endo-society.org/publicpolicy/health_disparities/ on December 3.

To date, 11 of the Society’s sister societies have endorsed the paper, including the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, American Diabetes Association, American Society for Andrology, American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, ASRM, American Thyroid Association, Androgen Excess Society, Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, Pediatric Endocrinology Nursing Society, Society for Gynecologic Investigation, and the Society for the Study of Reproduction.