Racism Baked Into Formulas, Algorithms Used To Help Doctors Make Medical Decisions

The New York Times: Race Is Used In Many Medical Decision-Making Tools
Unbeknown to most patients, their race is incorporated into numerous medical decision-making tools and formulas that doctors consult to decide treatment for a range of conditions and services, including heart disease, cancer and maternity care, according to a new paper published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The unintended result, the paper concludes, has been to direct medical resources away from black patients and to deny some black patients treatment options available to white patients. (Kolata, 6/17)

Stat: Racial Bias Skews Algorithms Widely Used To Guide Patient Care 
It is the latest evidence that algorithms used by hospitals and physicians to guide the health care given to tens of millions of Americans are shot through with implicit racism that their creators are often unaware of, but which nevertheless often result in Black people receiving inferior care. The new findings cut across more medical specialties than any previous study of race and algorithm-driven patient care. (Begley, 6/17)

Reuters: Black Patients With COVID-19 In Atlanta More Likely To Be Hospitalized: CDC 
A study of coronovirus patients in Atlanta has found that black patients are more likely to be hospitalized than white patients, highlighting racial disparities in the U.S. healthcare system, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday. About 79% of black patients were hospitalized for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, against 13% of white patients, according to the study here across six metropolitan hospitals and outpatient clinics in Atlanta, Georgia, between March and April 2020. (6/17)

The Hill: Black COVID-19 Patients In Atlanta More Likely To Be Hospitalized Than White Patients: CDC 
Obesity, hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and a history of smoking cigarettes were more prevalent among hospitalized patients, suggesting a relationship between the severity of illness and underlying illness, the CDC authors wrote. (Hellmann, 6/17)

Reuters: Mothers As 'Trauma Surgeons:' The Anguish Of Raising Black Boys In America
The death of George Floyd, a 46-year old black man who died in May after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes, has triggered widespread protests in the United States and around the world against police brutality and racism. It has also been a painful reminder to black mothers in the U.S. how vulnerable their children, and especially their sons, are to police brutality, at least five women Reuters interviewed said. (Moore, Caspani and Washington, 6/17)

Kaiser Health News: ‘Just Make It Home’: The Unwritten Rules Blacks Learn To Navigate Racism In America
Speak in short sentences. Be clear. Direct but not rude. Stay calm, even if you’re shaking inside. Never put your hands in your pockets. Make sure people can always see your hands. Try not to hunch your shoulders. Listen to their directions. Darnell Hill, a pastor and a mental health caseworker, offers black teenagers these emotional and physical coping strategies every time a black person is fatally shot by a police officer. That’s when parents’ worries about their sons and daughters intensify. “They’re hurting,” Hill said. “They’re looking for answers.” (Anthony, 6/18)

The Hill: Dallas County Declares Racism A Public Health Emergency 
Dallas County Commissioners have voted unanimously to pass a resolution declaring racism “a public health crisis affecting our entire country,” according to The Dallas Morning News. The measure’s passage comes as legislators in a number of municipalities and counties across the country have passed similar measures declaring racism to be a public health emergency, including Boston and counties in Ohio, Nebraska and Michigan. (Folley, 6/17)

CBS News: Black Doctor Goes Viral After Pleading With People To Respect Him In Both His Hoodies And His Scrubs 
A black doctor is going viral on Tik Tok for calling out racist stereotypes about clothing. He showed himself in his hospital scrubs and a hoodie, pleading with people to respect him in both — and now, other doctors are following suit. (Lewis, 6/17)

NPR: Oakland Mayor Launches Hate Crime Investigation Into Nooses Found At Park
Nooses found at a public park in Oakland, Calif., will be removed and investigated as hate crimes, according to Mayor Libby Schaaf. The news follows the hanging deaths of two black men that were originally ruled suicides, in Palmdale and Victorville. The FBI and the California Department of Justice have launched investigations into the deaths. (Hagemann, 6/17)

Los Angeles Times: Malcolm Harsch Victorville Hanging: Protesters Seek Justice
The hanging death of a Black man in Victorville has sparked community outrage about larger racial issues in the high desert city and calls for a full investigation into whether Malcolm Harsch was the victim of foul play. Harsch was found hanging from a tree on the morning of May 31 near the city’s library. Authorities have said there is no evidence of foul play, but the man’s family and others are skeptical and are demanding an independent investigation. (Vives and Campa, 6/17)

ABC News: Why I Talk About Bias I've Faced When Reporting On Coronavirus-Related Hate: Reporter's Notebook 
Being a victim of coronavirus-related discrimination is traumatic enough. But telling your story -- to raise awareness or seek justice and change -- can be an especially fraught prospect as a member of a minority group where, culturally, speaking out is not the norm and even frowned upon. That's why during my reporting on the virus of hate towards Asian Americans during the pandemic, I choose to share my personal experiences with xenophobia. While doing so isn't the traditional role of a journalist, it's a way of adapting to the changing storytelling landscape and it empowers others to know they're not alone and share their own stories. (Lim, 6/17)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Is Hitting Black Business Owners Hardest
The coronavirus pandemic will shutter many small businesses. And early evidence shows it is disproportionately hurting black-owned small businesses. More than 40 percent of black business owners reported they weren’t working in April, when businesses were feeling the worst of the pandemic’s economic consequences. Only 17 percent of white small business owners said the same, according to an analysis of government data by Robert Fairlie of the University of California, Santa Cruz. (Leatherby, 6/18)

The Associated Press: As Racism Protests Roil US, Florida Revisits Dark Past
On Election Day a century ago, a white mob swept through a tiny Florida citrus town after a black man showed up at the polls to vote. Over two days of terror, the mob set fire to homes and drove black residents from their community. It was one of the bloodiest days in American political history, with the number of deaths remaining in question — some estimates as high as 60. (Calvan, 6/18)