Forgotten: The Hidden Human Cost of Incomplete Science
Modern medicine depends on evidence. But what happens when that evidence leaves people out?
For decades, clinical trials have shaped the treatments that define healthcare-yet many of the communities most affected by disease have been underrepresented or excluded from the research meant to serve them. The result is incomplete science, unpredictable outcomes, and growing mistrust between medicine and the people it seeks to help.
In FORGOTTEN: The Hidden Human Cost of Incomplete Science, healthcare executive and health-equity leader Vanessa Best examines how clinical research came to prioritize control and convenience over inclusion-and why that approach no longer works in a diverse, global world.
Drawing on regulatory shifts, real-world participation barriers, and lived experience across health systems and communities, FORGOTTEN explores:
Why trust-not awareness-is the first barrier to clinical trial participation
The hidden financial and logistical costs that quietly determine who can enroll
How traditional trial designs exclude people with disabilities, rural populations, and underserved communities
Why regulators worldwide are demanding more inclusive evidence
What it takes to redesign research so it reflects real lives, not idealized ones
This is not a critique of science-it is a call to strengthen it. FORGOTTEN makes the case that inclusive evidence is not a moral add-on, but a scientific necessity-one that will determine whether the future of medicine works for everyone.
Clear-eyed, grounded, and forward-looking, FORGOTTEN is essential reading for leaders in healthcare, life sciences, policy, academia, and for anyone who believes medical progress must serve all communities-not just the ones easiest to study.
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