Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Gaps In Federal COVID Data Could Mean The True Toll For Black Americans Will Never Be Known
Politico: Missing Data Veils Coronavirus Damage To Minority Communities
The coronavirus’ brutal impact on African Americans and other minorities may never be fully known because of consistent gaps in gathering data on race and ethnicity that persist more than four months into the pandemic. Despite rising pressure on the Trump administration to fix the data deficits, 52 percent of reported coronavirus cases in the U.S. are still missing information on race or ethnicity. Recent federal guidance on gathering more of that data through testing won’t start until August. (Barron-Lopez, Cancryn, King and Tahir, 6/14)
USA Today: Festering Racial Bias In Health Care A Factor In COVID-19 Disparities
Actress Alicia Cole developed flesh-eating disease, sepsis and three life-threatening antibiotic-resistant infections after what was supposed to be a minor surgery in 2006. But for all she went through, Cole recalls details of the racial bias she encountered at the hospital as clearly as the physical ones she suffered. The experiences of Cole and her family over more than a decade of hospital stays turned her into a vocal patient safety advocate – and one of the very few people of color in the growing movement. (O'Donnell and Alltucker, 6/14)
The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus, Economic Toll Threaten To Worsen Black Mortality Rates
The new coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout threaten to exacerbate mortality rates for African-Americans, which have risen in recent years for blacks in middle age. Blacks are dying at disproportionately high rates from the coronavirus, and their unemployment rate has tripled as a result of the pandemic. The financial stress, along with long-simmering racial tensions highlighted by the May 25 killing of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police, may compound factors that have been shown to worsen the health of African-Americans, according to health experts and researchers. (Adamy, 6/13)
PBS NewsHour: Why Chronic Stress And COVID-19 Are A ‘Perfect Storm’ For The Health Of Black Americans
For months, the world has sat on edge while the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts life and takes lives, with no end in sight. In recent months, numerous killings of black Americans — Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd — at the hands of white, current or former law enforcement officers have prompted passionate, sometimes volatile protests. Those pains are fresh, but the deadly perils of systemic racism, as well as the chronic stress that comes with it, are not. (Santhanam, 6/12)
Stateline: Racism Is A Public Health Crisis, Say Cities And Counties
More recently, research has shown that racial health disparities don’t just affect poor African Americans, but they also cross class lines, Benjamin said. “As a black man, my status, my suit and tie don’t protect me.”The data is stark: Black women are up to four times more likely to die of pregnancy related complications than white women. Black men are more than twice as likely to be killed by police as white men. And the average life expectancy of African Americans is four years lower than the rest of the U.S. population. (Vestal, 6/15)
Modern Healthcare: Front-Line Healthcare Workers Join Calls To End Systemic Racism
Following Floyd’s death on May 25, hospitals began organizing ceremonies to take a knee, an action that just a few years ago created a national firestorm when quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem before NFL games. They’ve also participated in moments of silence. Just a day before the vandalism at the University of Iowa campus, Dr. Nicole del Castillo helped lead a #WhiteCoatsforBlackLives protest at the hospital for Carver College of Medicine residents and staff. They knelt for nearly 10 minutes. According to del Castillo, the demonstration was both a show of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and a call to action for change within the hospital. (Caruso, 6/13)
Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Highlights Need To Tackle Lingering Social Needs
Finding upstream solutions to address the social needs of patients will become even more crucial as the impact of COVID-19 will linger in many communities long after the pandemic has subsided. Such was the common theme discussed during Modern Healthcare’s most recent Social Determinants of Health Symposium June 2. Stakeholders said now was the time to address the gaps in both healthcare services and socio-economic supports that have contributed to some communities experiencing the worst outcomes from the outbreak. In places like Louisiana, African Americans make up 31% of the state’s total population yet accounted for more than 54% of COVID-19 deaths as of May 26, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Johnson, 6/13)
The Associated Press: Floyd's Death Spurs Question: What Is A Black Life Worth?
For 12-year-old Tamir Rice, it was simply carrying a toy handgun. For Eric Garner, it was allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes. For Michael Brown, Sandra Bland and Ahmaud Arbery, it was the minor offenses of jaywalking, failing to signal a lane change and trespassing on a residential construction site. And for George Floyd, it was an accusation he used a fake $20 bill at a grocery store. While in police custody on May 25, Floyd repeatedly pleaded “I can’t breathe,” as a white officer in Minneapolis pressed his knee into the black man’s neck for what prosecutors say was nearly nine minutes. (Morrison, 6/12)
CBS News: 40% Of Black-Owned Businesses Not Expected To Survive Coronavirus
Jameian Selmon kicked off 2020 with a dozen employees and a full slate of weddings and birthday parties booked for her thriving event-planning company in Minneapolis. Less than four months later, her company is gone — one of hundreds of thousands of black-owned businesses around the U.S. that have closed permanently amid the economic rubble caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Brooks, 6/12)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Protests Reflect Diversity Of Voices Calling For Change
On the north side, more than 100 people, mostly senior citizens, lined the corner of North King Drive and West North Avenue with folding chairs for a sit-in that supported marchers that went by. In Madison, about a thousand medical professionals marched on the State Capitol in a demonstration dubbed “White Coats for Black Lives. ”There were other peaceful demonstrations on Saturday as well, but after three weeks of marching and chanting, one thing is clear: a range of Wisconsinites, and Americans in general, are eager to show their solidarity with the Black community and other people of color. (Torres, Andrea, Prihar and Hughes, 6/13)
WBUR: Walsh Declares Racism 'A Public Health Crisis,' Proposes To Divert Less Than 3% Of Police Budget To Other Services
Mayor Marty Walsh on Friday declared racism a public health crisis in Boston. To tackle the emergency, after discussion with the Boston Police Department, Walsh said he will reallocate $3 million of the department's overtime budget to public health. Walsh said the decision comes after he listened to Black people — both in the Black Lives Matter movement and in his life — who shared with him "how racism shapes lives and hurts communities." (Walters, 6/12)
