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Tuesday, September 15th, 2015

Study: Black kids are given less pain medication than white kids in ER (or your daily dose of more proof that racism isn’t over)

Author:     Katie Halper
Source:     The Raw Story
Publication Date:     14 Sep 2015 at 15:27 ET
Link: Study: Black kids are given less pain medication than white kids in ER (or your daily dose of more proof that racism isn’t over)
Stephan:   Someone told me the other day that SR concerns about racism were overblown, that racism is at best a minor issue, mostly concerned the the police. Oh, really? Try this story on for size. The truth is we have still not healed the wounds of the Civil War and racism is still a hallmark of American society.
Black child in U.S. hospital Credit: www.firstdreamfoundation.com

Black child in U.S. hospital
Credit: www.firstdreamfoundation.com

A study released Monday shows that Black children are given less painkillers than white children when being treated for acute appendicitis, an extremely painful inflammation of the appendix.  While several studies have looked at the racial disparity in pain management among adults, this study focuses on the phenomenon among children. And it turns out that both Black children and Black adults can look forward to racial bias and racist treatment when seeking medical attention.

The article published online by JAMA Pediatrics on Monday presents a study which used data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2003 to 2010 to look at the use of opioid analgesia (which includes medications like Percocet ) and nonopioid analgesia (which includes over the counter household medicine like Tylenol).

 Of an estimated almost 1 million children evaluated in Emergency Departments (EDs) who were diagnosed with appendicitis, 56.8 percent of patients received some for of analgesia and 41.3 percent received opioid analgesia. Among […]

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1 Comment

  1. Rev. Dean on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at 6:49 am

    I am white, BUT, I have two beautiful black Grandchildren and a wonderful Black son-in-law and this is distressing to say the least. Since I was born in a totally black neighborhood in Hartford, Ct., where I was treated with respect by all of my neighbors, I never realized in early childhood that racism was real. Now that I have spent years living in the south, I know the truth: racism is real and is a moral disgrace, as is the treatment of Native Americans, which I also have in my family now, with a wonderful Grandson who is half Native American and I am appalled by all of the racism and still cannot understand it. We really are all the same, no matter what our ancestry, we are Americans and should be proud of the fact that we can all live together in peace IF we want to. There should be shame on the faces of all racists, as well as punishments for those who act with racism in their associations with others (in this life, not the hereafter).