Why the great disparity in health status between whites and
minorities--primarily African Americans? One popular explanation is
prejudice--in the doctor's office and throughout the health care
system. Most recently, the Institute of Medicine released, "Unequal
Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health
Care," a report that relied primarily on inference to conclude that
the health gap exists primarily because of bias and prejudice. Even
though statistical information concerning health is notoriously
complex, most media coverage of the report embraced its dicey
conclusions without question or criticism.
This panel will review the data purported to show "racism" in
health care and discuss the limitations of the data. Panelists will
also examine other factors that may contribute far more to racial
health disparities--factors that must be addressed long before
racism in any serious effort to eliminate the health gap.
More About the Speakers
Dr. Sally Satel
American Enterprise Institute
Dr. Peter Bach
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Byron Spice
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dr. Maxwell Gregg Bloche
Georgetown Law Center and
Institute of Medicine, Committee on Racial Disparity
Hosted By
Robert Moffit, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
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