BIOL 1090

TAKING SIDES ANALYSIS REPORT (SHORT FORM)
Course: Biology 1090
Article: Should Doctors Prescribe Drugs Based on Race?
Author and Citation: Major thesis and position of author:
Race makes it easier to recognize patterns that can help us diagnose disease more efficiently and prescribe medications more effectively. –Sally Satel
Answer the following as completely as you can from the material presented by the author:
1. Briefly state in your own words three facts presented.
-Molecule nitric oxide is a chemical that helps regulate the constriction of blood vessels.
- Blood pressure contributes to and worsens heart failure by making the heart pump harder.
-There are more than three billion nucleotides in the human genome.
2. Briefly state in your own words three opinions given.
-“When it comes to practicing medicine, stereotyping often works.”
-“There is no basis in the genetic code for race.”
-“In the last decade, many Americans have urged that the concept of race be abandoned, purged from our public discourse, rooted out of medicine and exiled from science.”
3. Identify in your own words the propaganda techniques used, if any.
In saying the word "Stereotyping," it kind of brings a bad message. She could have used a less negative word. Now you see why people become offended by her, it's because of her choice of words.
4. What cause/effect relationships were stated or implied by the author?
She mentions a former editor of The New England Journal of Medicene. She basically says that it's more easier to prescibe someone a drug depending on their sex, age, appearance, and race. Gregory Dorr and David Jones do talk about Satel, on how she is politically incorrect when it comes to racial prescibed drugs.
5. Were any of these cause/effect statements faulty? Why?
It seemed like Satel was looking for people that would help her show that prescribing drugs for different kind of races were okay.
6. Did you find evidence of other logical errors on the part of the author? Explain where and how for each of the topics listed below.
A. Distortion of Information: She makes it seem like it's okay to stereotype people based on race.
B. Faulty Analogy: There is no faulty analogies.
C. Oversimplification: In a few of her statements, she tended to oversimplify them.
D. Stereotyping: In this article, she stereotypes black patients that have hepatitis C, that must be given a less reassuring prognosis then her white patients.
E. Faulty Generalization: In one section, she did say that black people tend to over-salivate.
7. How credible is the author? What are the author’s credentials for writing this presentation?
She seems like a good doctor, but, the choices she's making are hurting her career. You shouldn't become racist against people thinking that only certain races gain certain diseases. Everyone will get the same disease, it doesn't matter on race.
8. How does this material fit in with material in your text or material presented in class? Be specific.
To tell you the truth, I really don't know how this ties into Human Biology at all, because this seems more like a political science.


                                                                        References
-"I am a Racially Profiling Doctor," The New York Times Magazine -Sally Satel
-"Facts and Fiction: BiDil and the Resurgence of Racial Medicine," Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics -Gregory Michael Dorr and David S. Jones