Skin Color Often Determines Your Treatment

[Principessa]

Does your doctor judge you based on your color?

(CNN) -- John Reid, a retired businessman, came home from a Caribbean cruise a few years ago with an infected toe as a souvenir. As a diabetic, he knew it was serious, so he went to the emergency room near his home in New York City. There, he says, the first doctor he saw ordered an immediate amputation, scheduling him for surgery right then and there. Horrified, he argued with the doctor, insisting there had to be a way to avoid lopping off his toe. "You'd better bring the head doctor in here," he said. Reid says the more senior doctor prescribed a long-term regimen of intravenous antibiotics and physical therapy -- a treatment much more expensive and time-consuming than an amputation -- and saved his toe. Reid, who is African-American, firmly believes that if he'd been a white man, the junior doctor wouldn't have been so quick to order the cheaper and more drastic solution over his objections. "I think it was very disrespectful. As a matter of fact, I think she was looking down on me," he said. "She just decided that, this guy was a minority [and] we're going to do whatever we feel like doing without consulting you." Reid says he thinks the young doctor assumed he wasn't smart enough to think through a medical decision. "She just felt like minorities are all the same -- they don't know anything, they're not intelligent, they're not educated," says Reid, a retired real estate agent who once ran his own business with nearly two dozen employees. "If she had known my background, I don't think she would have treated me that way."

Studies show blacks and whites are treated differently
While it's extremely difficult to tell in any given situation how much race -- consciously or subconsciously -- plays a role in a doctor's decision making, multiple studies over several decades have found doctors make different decisions for black patients and white patients even when they have the same medical problems and the same insurance. "It's absolutely proven through studies that a black man and a white man going to the hospital with the same complaint will be treated differently," Dr. Neil Calman, a family physician and president of the Institute for Family Health in New York, said. Calman is also Reid's regular physician. For example, a 2005 study found African-American cardiac patients were less likely than whites to receive a lifesaving procedure called revascularization, where doctors restore the flow of oxygen to the heart. The study authors at RTI International, a research institute, noted that all of the patients had Medicare, which covers the cost of revascularization.

In a study conducted in 2007, Harvard researchers showed doctors a vignette about a 50-year-old man with chest pain who arrived at the emergency room, where an EKG showed he'd had a heart attack. Sometimes the researchers paired the medical history with a photo of black man and other times with a photo of a white man. The doctors were significantly more likely to recommend lifesaving drugs when they thought the patient was white than when they thought the patient was black.."

Sadly, this is not news to me. :frown1:

 

[naughty]

This is the very reason a friend decided to go into patient advocacy after working in a hospital for a number of years. She has long complained about the disparity in treatment.

 

[hypoc8]

You know, I think regardless of race or sex we all can holler "just because we're...." we didn't get the respect, treatment or whatever we think we deserved at the time. I really don't know what the point is of posting these threads is other than keeping the shit pot stirred. No matter what people do or how hard they try someone is always going to be offended and blame it on race or sex as long as they know they can play the victim.

 

[transformer_99]

How awful, All I have is an HSA with a dental plan and I'm white. I wonder how that's going to effect any treatment I attempt to receive should I be so unfortunate to become ill ?

hypoc8, so true, so many hold that race card for the right moment and cash that chip in every chance they get. There are a lot of doctors that simply jump at the wrong treatment. Don't like that doctor or their opinion, go find another one. Maybe with an undesirable recommendation of treatment, they are steering you to go elsewhere ? That they don't want the job or that's all they're willing to invest in terms of time and effort for payout/payoff ?

Recently with dental work I had done, the dentist was a black woman and I had to wheel and deal to get a crown that was sized as close to the original dimensions of the actual tooth and to another that was made/performed on the other side of my mouth. The dentist was aware of all of the crowns as she had taken xrays. Yet I still had to remind the dentist that I wanted the new crown to be identical to the original tooth in terms of shape, size and color of the enamel. Had to reiterate that I wanted the gum-line to be perfect so my bite and smile was as naturally intended. Why would I have to make this extra effort to insure that I, as a white person getting superior dental care would get this level of treatment ? To be honest, I look at the work and compare, the work I recently had done and it isn't really near the quality and precision that the original dentist performed on the other crowns. Unfortunately the healthplan I have is different and besides the other dentist has long since retired. It's something I guess I have to live with or make a big stink about and pursue to get better results ? Maybe the race card works for me here ?

 

[Cowabanga]

You know, I think regardless of race or sex we all can holler "just because we're...." we didn't get the respect, treatment or whatever we think we deserved at the time. I really don't know what the point is of posting these threads is other than keeping the shit pot stirred. No matter what people do or how hard they try someone is always going to be offended and blame it on race or sex as long as they know they can play the victim.

Because studies have shown a significant difference in treatment between color of skin, that's the whole point. I'm sorry, but I think this pot needs to keep stirring till we are all equal! Even if it takes another f***king 200 hundred years!

 

[hypoc8]

Its just sad that everything, and I mean everything is turned into a race issue these days.
Has it ever occurred to these people that jump on the "their racist" bandwagon that some of these people may in fact be guilty, not qualified or the cause of their own problem? I guess not, it seems its a lot easier to just blame someone else for all that is wrong in their world because of their color or sex.
Now it seems that Mr. Reid here thought he got the wrong diagnosis from the first doctor, and I would have to agree here and likewise get a second opinion just as he did. But to blame it on him being black, where in the hell does this kind of thinking come from?

 

[hypoc8]

Because studies have shown a significant difference in treatment between color of skin, that's the whole point. I'm sorry, but I think this pot needs to keep stirring till we are all equal! Even if it takes another f***king 200 hundred years!

Well my observation is that just because you're white doesn't mean you get any better care than anybody else. When my son was rushed to the hospital several weeks ago with severe abdominal pain he wasn't treated any better or quicker than anyone else there that day. He had to wait out in the hallway on a stretcher for about two hours along with all the other blacks, whites, mexicans young and old before a triage room became available. Just because you're white doesn't mean you get waited on hand and foot like so many here seem to think.

 

[D_Relentless Original]

Does your doctor judge you based on your color?




Yes, sadly he does, i am white and his priority is the asian patients he is also asian, lots of reasons as to why and one point is the repeat prescriptions that he writes out monthly that i pay for, i have to go in every 28 days for my repeat or i don't get for the following month, i have been witness to children who's parents are in Pakistan, claiming NHS medication free and posting abroad, one patient apparantly had not seen the doctor as she had been in Pakistan for 6 months and had 18 lots of medication sent out to her or her relatives each month;i questioned the doctor as to why this was allowed, he told me it was not my business and i should not be so nosy.

I asked my doctor as to why i have to come in monthly and the asian community does not, he looked at me and said " figure it out".

 

[DiscoBoy]

Its just sad that everything, and I mean everything is turned into a race issue these days.
Has it ever occurred to these people that jump on the "their racist" bandwagon that some of these people may in fact be guilty, not qualified or the cause of their own problem? I guess not, it seems its a lot easier to just blame someone else for all that is wrong in their world because of their color or sex.
Now it seems that Mr. Reid here thought he got the wrong diagnosis from the first doctor, and I would have to agree here and likewise get a second opinion just as he did. But to blame it on him being black, where in the hell does this kind of thinking come from?

While everything is made into a race issue these days, much of it is warranted. The studies show that typically blacks and whites get different medical treatment so the claim made by the 'victim' isn't completely unjustified. Although, I do agree that Mr. Reid took it a bit far blaming the misdiagnosis on his race. His amputation was scheduled as soon as she diagnosed him, so I hardly think her intentions were malicious.

 

[transformer_99]

Because studies have shown a significant difference in treatment between color of skin, that's the whole point. I'm sorry, but I think this pot needs to keep stirring till we are all equal! Even if it takes another f***king 200 hundred years!

Perhaps so ? But where is the line forming to get sickle cell anemia ? Lack of healthcare in the USA is not an issue of race anymore ?

Stan Brock
RAM's Reach Across America
RAM Rural AMerica Program

"Underserved" is a politically correct way of saying you don't get medical care in America. Think I'm kidding, head on over to one of your Community Health Centers, it makes zero difference what the color of your skin is, you'll find a melting pot of Americans there. Reach Across America, the one picture, looks like a pretty much white caucasian crowd to me ? These are people that haven't had medical care in years. So they aren't even getting Medicaid.

RAM In The Media

I think these studies are more geared towards lining up the funding to save/serve a special interest group rather than deal with the fact that it's getting pretty damn bad for everyone. Everyone wants to get to the front of the line and these damn studies are a perfect way to rationalize and justify it.

Looking at those programs alone, how far do you think some areas of America are from being Guyana/South America ?

 

[Dave NoCal]

Sadly, the U.S is still profoundly racist and this factors into many professional decisions. The defensiveness against recognizing that well controlled studies have consistently demonstrated that, STATISTICALLY, members of minority groups receive less definitive medical care may further illustrate the power of racism in the U.S.
Dave

 

[transformer_99]

How is cost control racist ? The bottom line is premiums or charges are escalating, and at the end of the day it's typical insurance, they don't want you to use it because it cuts into profits. And when you do use it, they get you the cheapest and least time consuming solution. This isn't the only thing, employers are looking to slash payrolls and costs anyway they can. The whole concept behind that is counter to best treatment. The healthcare industry is about generating the maximum revenue and providing the basest care. In the example of the amputation, that's a bit extreme, arguably malpractice incompetent. Hardly racist though.

 

[naughty]

Though there are many poor people getting substandard or not getting care at all regardless of race, what I think the OP is trying to say is that with the same degree of coverage and ability to pay often African Americans are either ignored until the problem reaches a point of no return or are given very drastic treatments when something a bit more conservative could have been tried.
I have systematically had my white doctors most recently attempt to recommend African American doctors to me for treatment. I personally dont care as long as the doctor is good. It does make me wonder why however. Does he think they will relate to me better or does he prefer not to treat African Americans? My mother actually asked him why he did this he gave her a very sheepish look but no answer.

It is not in the healthcare system as a organization but in the doctor's expectations and personal biases that are translated into the care given a patient.

Though I am using African Americans as an example Tardis gave an example of biased healthcare from another perspective.

 

[Pendlum]

This gives me white guilt. Which is compounded by the fact that I would never do that, so those studies just blow my mind. It's actually a bit insulting to me too, so I can't imagine what it feels like for a black person, let alone a black person who experienced it.

At least he got to keep is toe.

 

[naughty]

This gives me white guilt. Which is compounded by the fact that I would never do that, so those studies just blow my mind. It's actually a bit insulting to me too, so I can't imagine what it feels like for a black person, let alone a black person who experienced it.

At least he got to keep is toe.

Dont feel guilty. It is a systemic problem that started centuries ago and is so pervasive that we all still see things through our own filters. Racism is something that has to be fought vigilantly from no matter what direction it comes. There are black bigots just as there are white bigots. I am sure that there are people who feel that minorities are always complaining. Unfortunately they are complaining often because there is something to complain about. Most people would prefer to live a quiet hassle free life. We can only truly have a color blind global society when we can get to the point of seeing that everything is not a zero sum situation. .