Race and Medicine

Despite the best of intentions, medicine is not race-blind. Regardless of education level, income level, and geographic location, patients of color, especially black patients, receive less care and worse care. The problem is systemic, it is pervasive, and it is real.

Source: Statista https://www.statista.com/chart/21364/african-american-share-of-covid-19-deaths/

In many respects, COVID-19 is the latest chapter in the book about how structural disparities shape the burden of disease in America," says study lead author Matthew Raifman.

"Decades of structural inequities in education, employment, housing, stress, and other factors have shaped disparities in the burden of chronic disease by race, ethnicity, and income," says study co-author Julia Raifman.

Source: AJPM via Boston University https://www.bu.edu/sph/2020/04/28/race-and-income-shape-covid-19-risk/

During 2007-2016, black and American Indian/Alaska Native women had significantly more pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 births than did white, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander women. Disparities persisted over time and across age groups and were present even in states with the lowest pregnancy-related mortality ratios and among groups with higher levels of education.

Source: CDC MMWR https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6835a3.htm

Black Americans account for less than 13 percent of the population but they are shot and killed by the police at a rate that's over twice as high for white Americans.

Source: Statista https://www.statista.com/chart/21857/people-killed-in-police-shootings-in-the-us/