New York University sociologist Troy Duster is available for comment on the Food and Drug Administration’s impending decision on the approval of BiDil. The drug, produced by the pharmaceutical company NitroMed, would be used to treat African Americans, thus becoming the first drug targeted to a single racial group.
Duster, whose analysis on the issue appeared in the Feb. 18 issue of Science magazine, concludes that BiDil’s appeal is based on faulty research and urges the FDA to obtain more reliable data before approving the drug. Duster, also president of the American Sociological Association, argues that research on BiDil incorrectly links a biological idea of race to heart disease and that socioeconomic factors better explain susceptibility to heart disease. Click here for more on Duster’s position on this issue: http://www.nyu.edu/nyutoday/archives/18/11R/Stories/faculty-debate.html
Reporters interested in speaking with Duster should contact James Devitt, Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu.