The Truth About Dr. Charles Drew

Many African Americans are not aware of the true story of Dr. Charles Richard Drew, an African American pioneer in medicine. Dr. Drew was born in Washington D.C. in 1904. He was a gifted athlete, medical researcher, and physician. His medical research was in the area of blood transfusions and blood banking (storage). His medical expertise contributed to saving thousands of lives of British soldiers in World War II. The United States did not rally around his work in the beginning because white physicians did not believe that blood from blacks and whites were the same. The urban legend continues to exist in many textbooks on African American history that Dr. Drew died in the segregated south because he was denied a blood transfusion after being involved in a terrible car accident the night of April 1, 1950. After long hours of work a tired Dr. Drew and a few other Black physicians were driving from Howard University to a medical conference at Tuskegee Institute. Dr. Drew was driving when the car ran off the road. He and his friends were given very good treatment at Alamance Hospital in Burlington, NC where they were taken. Dr. Drew died the next day due to secondary head and chest injuries from the accident. Dr. Charles Mason Quick, an African American physician who was working the night Dr. Drew and his friends were brought to the hospital, confirmed this story. Dr. John Ford, Dr. Drew’s friend who was also in the accident, stated that Dr. Drew and others received the best of care that could have been given to anyone at that time. Black history month is a time to give recognition to African Americans who have made a positive impact on society.

I am Dr. Thaddeus John Bell --- Closing the Gap in Health Disparities for African Americans.

Bell Update Volume 3, Chapter 8

Copyright February 2008