The Cause And Effects Of Racial Discrimination In Health Care

Throughout the 1960’s medical health care was not as advanced and thorough like it is today. During the 1900’s, families were not as informed of their medical records than today due to a breakthrough in medical technology (Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks). In past years, hospital experience turned out to be quite lengthy stays for some people and had given a redundant insult with no respect to a patient. Some people had not been as beneficial as white people have. These problems should not even exist, it is just physical discrimination against people of different color.

Henrietta's ordeal in a racially segregated healthcare system illustrates how race, a social construct without biological basis but defined by physical characteristics and cultural heritage, critically influences health as it manifests discrimination and dictates access to resources, rights, and opportunities through embedded social significance and power dynamics (Etowa et al., 2007). The era of Jim Crow laws, as Henrietta's experiences highlight, was a period where racial segregation was legally enforced, embedding inequities into the foundation of healthcare institutions. Hospitals during this era not only turned away black individuals from white-only facilities but also provided them with inferior care in the institutions that did admit them (Skloot, 2010). This practice underscores a deliberate, institutionalized disregard for black

Some would say race accounts for certain issues, for example one would say African Americans have elevated risk of disease due to genetics. What Syme explains is in countries where discrimination is less prevalent you don’t find those kinds of rates. He believes as an Epidemiologist that the stress of discrimination causes health issues. Chapter 9 explains race as a social concept because there is no biological justification

Kaori Fujishiro had a research in which investigated whether racial privilege was associated with personal health. In Fjishiro’s article, the author discussed how Racial discrimination is discussed more than Racial privilege. He did a study to note how racial privilege can have an affect on personal health.

He also expressed his thoughts on racism in medicine. He explains reasoned analysis of racially driven information, why black people are afraid of taking medical aid and about his experience as a black doctor practicing, and his interactions with black and white patients, where black people are afraid of doctors where as white not trusting a black doctor. He explains about project LEAD a breast cancer advocacy group founded by Dr. Susan where all the members in this group are trained with a special curriculum using science, statistics and epidemiology. They teach about latest treatments of breast cancer and all about it. Author repeatedly refers to audience in many occasions to fight for the cause of right information and better health care.

In science and medicine, advancement and achievement occurs everyday. Unfortunately, this same progressive profession can be a microcosm for the discrimination that happens worldwide daily, and sometimes seems to be exacerbating alongside discoveries in health. It is undeniable, however disappointing, that health disparities exist. Because of biases and adversities based on an endless list of aspects including, but not limited to, location, race, gender, disability, and socioeconomic status, health disparities are extremely harmful to their victims. With a growing number of minority populations in every demographic, combating health disparities is necessary for the wellbeing of the overall population and improving medical care. My interest

If everyone in the United States is treated equal, then why are Americans facing health disparities regarding to race? Race has always been an issue in this country. When it comes to the healthcare system, not all Americans receive the same outcomes or came services as others. Most Americans due to race receives unfair healthcare treatment because they’re not getting appropriate medical attention, they’re more likely to do die based on their illness, and if they’re uninsured they can’t receive any medical attention. This argument is going to be based on Americans who face these health disparities in the U.S regarding to mental health disorders, breast cancer, and the people who are uninsured.

In looking on the subject of race you realize there is a racial stigma when it comes to health care. The American health care system is geared to treat the majority, while the minority suffers. As one looks at the African American society we see the racial discrimination in the health care system. According to the American heart association, “African Americans are 28% more likely

While today’s “patients [have] one thing going for them that Henrietta didn't: They [are] alive. And the dead have no right to privacy-even if part of them is still alive,” (Skloot 211) history’s ethical debate regarding medical racism remains a social issue. When patients experience racism, they may be unable to defend themselves if they are incapacitated by medical professionals. Due to patient negligence and bias, the health care provider’s poor treatment breaks the trust of minorities. As shown in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and treatment of Henrietta Lacks, doctors and researchers have failed to inform the participants correctly. Both occurrences highlight medical racism because of the historical maltreatment of minority groups. Now, many

In this paper, I will argue that the healthcare system has responsibility in taking care of the racism that is apparent in this system. First and foremost, the word “racism” must be defined in order to prevent confusion on the line of reasoning in this argument. According to Camara Jones’s framework that was developed to highlight how racism can lead to health disparities, there are two levels of racism that will be looked at: institutionalized racism and personally-mediated racism. Institutionalized racism, defined as “differential access to goods, services, and opportunities by race, includes differential access to health insurance”. What is significant to note is that institutional racism does not require personal bias commonly associated

In doing so, he pays particularly close attention to black patients and their relations with health care policies and practices. Smedly maintains that blacks are not only the victims of, inpatient and outpatient treatment, racial policies, and other services but also the victims of its consequences. He argues that many health care administrators are agents to a system of inequality that support provider and administrator biases, geographical inequalities, and racial stereotypes (Smedly 2012).

Sally Satel on the other hand is a supporter of the fact that racism is not a serious problem in the health care system. Even though she agrees with IOM about health care disparity, she thinks racism is not a cause. That is what she shows the reader in her article. She argues that the health care system is colorblind. Satel she mentions the causes of health care disparities as well as ways to correct the disparities. In her opinion, “racism isn't to blame for health disparities, but rather race itself” (Satel 2). Satel identifies two possible reasons to counter the notion that racism is the cause of health care disparities. First, she quotes that, “white and black patients, on average, do not even visit the same population of physicians—making the idea of preferential treatment by individual doctors a far less compelling explanation for disparities in health” (Satel 2). Another reason is “that a higher proportion of the doctors that black patients tend to see may not be in a position to provide optimal care” (Satel 1).

The relationship between black patients and doctors has always been strained by the injustice done by doctors in history. One such example stated in the book is the Tuskegee syphilis studies: They recruited hundreds of African-American men with syphilis, then watched them die slow, painful, preventable deaths, even after they realized penicillin could cure them. …

There are quite a few individuals in our society that seem to avoid visiting a doctor’s office at any cost. By adding the possibility that the doctor their seeing may be racism, will simple raise their already high anxiety about their dread visit. The following will discuss the article, Does Your Doctor Judge You Based on Your Color?, in order to explore this possibility as well as discuss my own thoughts on this important subject.

Through a clinical lens, physicians like Satel are using race, in addition to typical factors like age and medical history, to treat and diagnose their patients. Satel claims that certain races are more prone to certain diseases, and by using their race it allows for a quicker differential diagnosis. She includes examples of racial differences seen in medical treatments, such as slower metabolism of antidepressants in African Americans, medications for heart failure more effective in whites, and higher salivation in African Americans during intubation. Yet, all her noted findings were refuted. For instance, careful review of