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Drugs and double binds: racial identification and pharmacogenomics in a system of binary race logic.

Lynch J, Dubriwny T

Department of Communication Studies, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235-1505, USA. lynchjoa@uga.edu

People respond to drugs in different ways depending on their genotype. Some geneticists and medical researchers have suggested using race as a substitute for genotype in prescribing medication. Overall, individuals resist the prescription of medication based on race, but some minority individuals, although indicating resistance and suspicion, ultimately choose race-based medication. This can be explained by the operation of Burkean identification in a system of binary race logic. Although individuals resist race-based medication and recognize race is not a legitimate genetic category, their identification with a racial-ethnic group places them in a double bind between choosing race-based medication or denying their racial identification.

Published 7 March 2006 in Health Commun, 19(1): 61-73.
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