 Sick of racism in US health care system
Seattle, 2008 Oct 29, Press TV
Racism has reared its ugly head in the United States again as a new study shows that doctors subconsciously favor whites over Blacks.
US Blacks get inferior care for cancer and a variety of other ailments compared to whites, according a long line of studies.
"This supports speculation that subtle race bias may affect health care, but does not imply that it will," said Janice Sabin of the University of Washington in Seattle on Tuesday.
Sabin said it was too early to know if there was a direct link between the findings and the quality of care delivered to Blacks in the United States, Reuters reported.
Presenting the study at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting in San Diego, Sabin said the findings reinforce other studies showing racial bias is common in the general population.
Sabin used data from a study of more than 400,000 people who took an online test between 2004 and 2006 about their attitudes on race. More than 2,500 of the test-takers said they were doctors.
Studies have shown that Blacks in the United States are more likely to die from diabetes, strokes, heart attacks and cancer than whites.
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