Pain & Perception

If you’ve ever picked a number between 1 and 10 to describe your level of pain, you probably know just how subjective that exercise can feel. But there’s a whole other challenge when it comes to how others perceive your pain. And your race or gender can amplify the difference. The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that “a meta analysis of 20 years of studies covering many different sources of pain found that black/African American patients were 22% less likely than white patients to receive any pain medication.” It goes on to provide recommendations on how to combat bias, implicit or otherwise.

I Have a Dream in 2020

As we prepare to celebrate Martin Luther King Day, there is no better time to remember African American pioneers in health & medicine, nor to wrestle with the disparities that persist in healthcare. In the words of MLK, “we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the freeway….” If he were with us today, no doubt he would have the same to say about healthcare.

From Politics to Premies: Is Fear & Denigration Driving Higher Infant Mortality?

It’s a common knowledge that stress can spike anxiety, increase high blood pressure and lead to various forms of heart disease. Our current environment of escalating hostility, intolerance and the politics of invective is taking a toll on people’s health. Examples include increased volume in emergency rooms, poor pregnancy outcomes and an assault on the mental and emotional health of children and families.

In a study released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported in the Washington Post, researchers found that the risk of premature birth among Latinas has risen unexpectedly since 2017. According to an OB/GYN researcher at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, an expert not associated with the study released by the CDC, “You have a date when a baby should have been born and when it actually is. You have weight, length of stay at hospital. It’s extremely objective data.”

This is worrying, as premature birth & low birth weight constitute one of the top five causes of infant mortality. In an America where access to health care is a growing problem for many children and families— due to cost and/or lack of insurance—this is truly bad news.

Nadine Burke Harris: First Surgeon General of California

This pediatrician is a leading voice for improving the health of children and the adults they will become. Her stellar career and rise to a position of influence in California, the nation’s largest healthcare economy, is one of the most exciting developments in the sector. This month NPR published an interview giving us a glimpse of her vision and unique perspective achieved through years of service.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Why is harder for women than men to get a solid diagnosis?

Women are 50% more likely to get an incorrect initial diagnosis for heart attack, and 30% more likely in the case of stroke, according to this WebMD overview of challenges women face getting the right diagnosis.

The reasons are manifold and start early in doctors’ training. Nearly two-thirds of medical students don’t feel equipped to handle differences between the sexes in health care, according to the author of a 2016 study.

She Stood Her Ground

If you read nothing further, at least play this video. It speaks volumes on the everyday crisis of lives lost to guns and the burden of fear it engenders.

That burden, however, is not evenly distributed; nor is the application of “stand your ground” laws that allow people to shoot perceived attackers in self defense. In 2012, the Urban Institute found that a death is over 10 times more likely to be determined “justifiable homicide” in cases where the victim is black and the shooter is white, as compared to the reverse. More recently, a 2015 analysis of shooting deaths in Florida showed that defendants in “stand your ground” cases were twice as likely to be convicted when the victim was white.

Who's Right About the Right to Healthcare?

Atul Gawande, the physician-turned-CEO of the recently formed entity Health Venture, backed by Amazon, JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway, returns to home base to explore both sides of the debate.