Equitable Innovation
Racial and ethnic minorities needing medical care will enter sites of care and experience harm from biased medical technologies and interventions. Biases persist across the health innovation ecosystem with drugs, diagnostics, devices, algorithms, and care practices. FAS believes the federal government can play a critical role in correcting bias in technologies and incentivizing future processes for equitable innovation. FAS works to ensure the research and development process is open and fair, looks for ways to support market success for “equitable innovations”, and lifts up new health policy ideas from communities impacted by health inequities.
To encourage greater adoption of generic drugs in clinical practice the FDA should implement a dedicated regulatory pathway for non-manufacturers to seek approval of new indications for repurposed generic drugs.
New solutions are needed to target diseases before they are life-threatening or debilitating, moving from retroactive sick-care towards preventative healthcare.
At least 40% of Medicare beneficiaries do not have a documented AHCD. In the absence of one, medical professionals may perform major and costly interventions unknowingly against a patient’s wishes.
AI has transformative potential in the public health space, but innovation driven primarily by the private sector today may be exacerbating existing disparities by training models.