Abstract
What is the relationship between unintended adverse effects of medical treatment, social inequality and public mistrust in the medical establishment? How do the impacts of such errors on trust vary between cases and what explains the differences? In this paper we explore the sources of mistrust in the medical establishment that result from the discovery of adverse effects of radiation treatment.
In the early 1970s, medical research confirmed the long-standing suspicion that children and young adults treated with radiation for benign diseases, during the 1950s and 1960s, showed an alarming tendency to develop thyroid cancer and other ailments as adults. The research presents in detail the effect of this discovery on patients who had been treated with radiation in Israel and the United States.
In Israel, most of the patients who underwent radiation treatment were from the Mizrahi ethnic group: Middle Eastern, Asian, and North African Jewish immigrants, most of them from Arab and Islamic countries. The Mizrahi are, mostly from lower socio-economic classes, and believed that they had been singled out for this treatment. The discovery of the adverse effects and the failure to effectively communicate with the group led to broken trust in the medical establishment, suspicion, hostility and conspiracy theories that continue to poison this issue.
In the United States, the private nature of its healthcare system meant that those who underwent radiation treatment were those who could afford it - patients from middle or upper middle classes almost all of whom were white. Unlike in the Israeli case, no such hostility and broken trust observed against US health authorities.
Based on official protocols, interviews, formal announcements, court rulings, newspaper archives, and other documentary evidence, we investigate why similar adverse effects have led to different level of trust toward the medical establishment in both countries. We show that social inequality in society and failure to communicate and effectively alert former patients about the adverse effects, are important factors for understanding mistrust in health authorities that are yet to be examined.
Learning objectives:
1. To examine what can be done to improve the confidence of marginalized groups in the medical establishment.
2. To explore how health authorities can effectively communicate with the public after the discovery of adverse effects of drugs and medical practices.
3. To understand what are some of the negative consequences of mistrust in the medical establishment.
In the early 1970s, medical research confirmed the long-standing suspicion that children and young adults treated with radiation for benign diseases, during the 1950s and 1960s, showed an alarming tendency to develop thyroid cancer and other ailments as adults. The research presents in detail the effect of this discovery on patients who had been treated with radiation in Israel and the United States.
In Israel, most of the patients who underwent radiation treatment were from the Mizrahi ethnic group: Middle Eastern, Asian, and North African Jewish immigrants, most of them from Arab and Islamic countries. The Mizrahi are, mostly from lower socio-economic classes, and believed that they had been singled out for this treatment. The discovery of the adverse effects and the failure to effectively communicate with the group led to broken trust in the medical establishment, suspicion, hostility and conspiracy theories that continue to poison this issue.
In the United States, the private nature of its healthcare system meant that those who underwent radiation treatment were those who could afford it - patients from middle or upper middle classes almost all of whom were white. Unlike in the Israeli case, no such hostility and broken trust observed against US health authorities.
Based on official protocols, interviews, formal announcements, court rulings, newspaper archives, and other documentary evidence, we investigate why similar adverse effects have led to different level of trust toward the medical establishment in both countries. We show that social inequality in society and failure to communicate and effectively alert former patients about the adverse effects, are important factors for understanding mistrust in health authorities that are yet to be examined.
Learning objectives:
1. To examine what can be done to improve the confidence of marginalized groups in the medical establishment.
2. To explore how health authorities can effectively communicate with the public after the discovery of adverse effects of drugs and medical practices.
3. To understand what are some of the negative consequences of mistrust in the medical establishment.
| Original language | English |
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| State | Published - 4 May 2017 |
| Event | American Association for The History of Medicine (AAHM) - Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville Duration: 1 May 2017 → … |
Conference
| Conference | American Association for The History of Medicine (AAHM) |
|---|---|
| City | Nashville |
| Period | 1/05/17 → … |
