NATIONALBOOKCRITICSCIRCLEAWARDWINNER-ThefirstfullhistoryofBlackAmerica’sshockingmistreatmentasunwillingandunwittingexperimentalsubjectsatthehandsofthemedicalestablishment.Nooneconcernedwithissuesofpublichealthandracialjusticecanaffordnottoreadthismasterfulbook.“[Washington]hasunearthedashockingamountofinformationandshapeditintoariveting,carefullydocumentedbook.“--NewYorkTimesFromtheeraofslaverytothepresentday,startingwiththeearliestencountersbetweenBlackAmericansandWesternmedicalresearchersandtheracistpseudosciencethatresulted,MedicalApartheiddetailsthewaysbothslavesandfreedmenwereusedinhospitalsforexperimentsconductedwithouttheirknowledge--atraditionthatcontinuestodaywithinsomeblackpopulations.ItrevealshowBlackshavehistoricallybeenpreytograve-robbingaswellasunauthorizedautopsiesanddissections.Movingintothetwentiethcentury,itshowshowthepseudoscienceofeugenicsandsocialDarwinismwasusedtojustifyexperimentalexploitationandshoddymedicaltreatmentofBlacks.Shockingnewdetailsaboutthegovernment’snotoriousTuskegeeexperimentarerevealed,asaresimilar,less-well-knownmedicalatrocitiesconductedbythegovernment,thearmedforces,prisons,andprivateinstitutions.Theproductofyearsofprodigiousresearchintomedicaljournalsandexperimentalreportslongundisturbed,MedicalApartheidrevealsthehiddenunderbellyofscientificresearchandmakespossible,forthefirsttime,anunderstandingoftherootsoftheAfricanAmericanhealthdeficit.Atlast,itprovidesthefullestpossiblecontextforcomprehendingthebehavioralfalloutthathascausedBlackAmericanstoviewresearchers--andindeedthewholemedicalestablishment--withsuchdeepdistrust.
