According to The Associated Press report, the FDA defended their stance by calling it a step toward "the promise of personalized medicine."
Yet, the FDA approval has triggered a racial debate.
Questions have already been raised on the validity of medical research that is primarily based on race.
According to the Associated Press David Magnus, director of the Stanford Medical Center for Biomedical Ethics, says, "There are many who claim these use of [racial] categories may not have any biological meaning, only social meaning, and basing medical decisions on them may be problematic."
However, research indicated that 'BiDil' had a positive effect on a population excessively burdened by cardiovascular disease.
"African-Americans between the ages of 45 and 64 are 2.5 times more likely to die prematurely from heart failure than their non-black counterparts," Dr. Anne Taylor of the University of Minnesota Medical School told The Associated Press. "FDA approval of BiDil represents an important leap forward in addressing this health disparity."
Dr. Anne Taylor is also the chief investigator in the research of 'BiDil'. FDA officials also maintained that 'BiDil' is effective on blacks.
According to another interview with the Associated Press, Dr. Robert Temple, the FDA's associate director of medical policy says that "The information presented to the FDA clearly showed that blacks suffering from heart failure will now have an additional safe and effective option for treating their condition. In the future, we hope to discover characteristics that identify people of any race who might be helped by 'BiDil'."
