This is our second podcast in a two-part series about race. In this podcast, we discuss the role of race in medicine. We review the pros and cons of considering race in medicine. We also talk about the origins of some of the most common race-based medical stereotypes. Finally, beyond human interactions, we reveal how implicit biases can become engrained in the very algorithms and systems that decide our care and further increase health disparities.
Sources:
Science “Race and Medicine” – Constance Holden 2003
BMC Health Services Research “Is race medically relevant? A qualitative study of physicians’attitudes about the role of race in treatment decision-making” - Shedra Amy Snipes et al. 2011
Skin tone: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/07/22/malone-mukwende-medical-handbook/
The problem with race-based medicine:
https://www.ted.com/talks/dorothy_roberts_the_problem_with_race_based_medicine?language=en
Redheads and pain: https://www.pnas.org/content/100/8/4867
Black patients and pain:
https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-we-fail-black-patients-pain
https://www.pnas.org/content/113/16/4296
Meta-analysis of disparities in pain meds:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22239747/
In-group bias:
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/vanbavel/lab/documents/Mende-Siedlecki.etal.2019.JEPG.pdf
Spirometers: “Breathing Race into the Machine” by Lundy Braun
Origin of myths about physiological racial differences: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/racial-differences-doctors.html
John Brown’s personal accounts:
https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/jbrown/jbrown.html
Glomerular Filtration rates and race:
https://www.kidney.org/sites/default/files/docs/12-10-4004_abe_faqs_aboutgfrrev1b_singleb.pdf
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9214396/
Experience of Black physicians:
BiDil: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)60052-X/fulltext
https://www.nature.com/articles/6500489
CYP2D6 gene: https://www.nature.com/articles/gim201680
Race and pharmacogenetics: https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/pharmacogenetics-personalized-medicine-and-race-744/
Sickle cell disease: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/features/keyfinding-trait.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2093356/
https://digitalwindow.vassar.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1334&context=senior_capstone
Bias in Healthcare algorithm:
Science “Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations” Obermeyer et al. 2019
Nature “Millions affected by racial bias in health-care algorithm” Heidi Ledford 2019
