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While none of us are strangers to the concepts of prejudice and bias, what do you do if it affects someone you count on with your life?

The Chicago Tribune just ran an article detailing that over a 13 year period and after 150,000 emergency room visits, doctor’s were more likely to prescribe pain medication to white patients than black patients. While medicine has advanced to place priority on diagnosis of an ailment based on a patient’s description of pain, it is troubling to find that these disparities in diagnosis are so obvious.

[T]he racial gap endured. Linda Simoni-Wastila of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Pharmacy said the race gap finding may reveal some doctors’ suspicions that minority patients could be drug abusers lying about pain to get narcotics.

The irony, she said, is that blacks are the least likely group to abuse prescription drugs. Hispanics are becoming as likely as whites to abuse prescription opioids and stimulants, according to her research. She was not involved in the current study.

The study’s authors said doctors may be less likely to see signs of painkiller abuse in white patients, or they may be undertreating pain in minority patients.

So what do you do?

This type of ignorance transcends the frustration of ‘driving while black’ or having lunch with friends in the country club. I’m almost prone to paranoia if I know in the back of my mind that any emergency care I may need to help me assess an affliction may be derailed because of the lack of perspective an arrogant physician may have.

One idea is to establish a relationship with a doctor you trust before something serious comes up. Yearly checkups are already recommended for your own self-preservation, so expressing these concerns with this same doctor can go a long way. I’ve had good experiences asking non-routine questions to my doctor, especially for the impending ‘what-if’ scenario.

Any other ideas?

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[img: msnbc.com]