Establish a grant requiring heterogeneity in clinical studies.

 

The purpose of this bill is to fund recruitment of minorities in medical studies and clinical trials thereby reducing

health disparities.

 

White participants make up 80% of clinical trials, versus 6% Hispanics, 1% Asians, 0% American Indian and Alaskan

Natives, and 21% of trials report 0 Black participants.

This lack of diversity has serious effects. Underrepresentation of women has led to overmedication, higher heart attack

mortality, and harsher side effects. Similarly, lack of ethnic diversity has serious consequences; one study found that

few Black participants means new drugs used without sufficient data on efficacy or side effects.

The largest barrier to diversity is cost. According to NCBI, recruitment and retention of diverse participants can be

costly, requiring extra and flexible funding to improve trial access for low-income participants. Without financial

support, minorities are unlikely to participate due to socioeconomic factors like lost wages, child care, and

transportation.

The continuation of the underrepresentation of minorities will only worsen and increase health disparities. The

formulation of this grant will directly address disparities and increase participant diversity by providing financial

support.

 

Minorities: Groups underrepresented in Minnesota’s clinical studies. Including but not limited to, women and

racial/ethnic groups such as, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans.

Heterogeneity: A participant pool that reflects, to a reasonable extent, the demographic make-up of Minnesota in regards

to gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic standing.

Clinical study/studies: refers to clinical research studies and clinical trials involving human participants.

Health disparities: differences in health outcomes and health care that disproportionately affect certain groups based

on race, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status.

Participant costs: the sum of all money spent per participant.

 

Funding for this grant will be derived from a 6% tax on marijuana. The revenue will be used to fund a grant that will

cover 30% of the total participants costs for 25 clinical research studies and 25 clinical trials. In the beginning an

estimate of needed funding will be provided by clinical studies. It will then be taken into account when covering the

30%. The 30% coverage will be provided once per clinical study.

To be eligible for this grant, clinical studies must meet the following requirements: be conducted in Minnesota, be from

a public institution, involve human participants, must demonstrate a plan to recruit minorities, studies must aim for

heterogeneity in participants, aim for at least a 1:1 ratio of minorities to white participants, aim for a 1:1 ratio of

men to women, to commit to the publication of participant demographics, provide multilingual support to participants

that require it, and if gender or race/ethnic specific results occur studies must include it in publication. Failure to

meet the ratio requirements does not mean ineligibility as long as a sincere, honest, and diligent attempt is made.

 

This grant will fall under the jurisdiction of the MN Office of Grants Management. Dishonesty and fraud will result in

the seizement of previous paid funds and ineligibility to receive federal and state grants.

 

January 1st 2027