Black individuals are 2 to 4 times more likely than others to progress to kidney failure and are less likely to receive optimal therapies, including kidney transplants. Reasons that contribute to these disparities include a variety of factors that are a direct result of structural racism, including poor access to health care, low educational attainment, and poverty. More
Since the beginning of the pandemic, workers in essential industries needing to work in person continued going to work and keeping the nation running while risking exposure to the novel coronavirus. More
Standardizing collection of race and ethnicity data across state and local health departments would help us better gauge Covid-19's impact. More
Widespread COVID testing has revealed uncomfortable truths about medical tests: A test result is rarely a definitive answer, but instead a single clue. More
A Trump administration maneuver allows executives who are leading the federal effort to keep investments in drug companies that would benefit from the pandemic response. More
The net effect of academic bullying and ad hominem attacks has been the creation and maintenance of “groupthink”—a problem that carries its own deadly consequences. People are becoming increasingly resistant to the prospect of more public health measures that restrict their lives. Silencing any science-based viewpoint that would lift some of the most oppressive aspects of controlling the spread of the virus could leave the public even more resistant to public health measures. The new administration will also need public health messaging that helps people understand the evidence and reasoning behind it. More
From the latest Covid-19 surge, clinicians once more face risky, burnout-inducing work. They are frustrated this is happening again. More
This observational study the assesses the association of a new trauma center with transport times for trauma patients as a measure of prompt access to care and specifically examines changes in racial, ethnic, and income disparities in transport times. More
Purdue Pharma, which invented OxyContin, agreed to pay fines of $8 billion, will be effectively dissolved and converted into a benefit company. More
This Teachable Moment discusses the benefits of addressing patients’ spiritual and religious needs in patient care, particularly at the end of life. More
In the world of prescription drugs, "price" is a murky term. Using the list price across the supply chain would simplify things. More
Unlike the flu, the new coronavirus leaves children mostly unscathed. More
Hospitals have a responsibility to address longstanding health inequities in the communities they serve. One way they can do this is through their community benefit activities. More
“We’ve been led down this primrose path of medicine before. Where’s the data? Where are the randomized controlled trials?” said Brownlee, who is a leader of the national health care advocacy nonprofit Lown Institute. “You started building before you had the data.” “Mayo clearly has confidence in this machine. They want to get ahead of the game and they want to command market share,” she said. “There are so many ways $100 million could have been spent, if they cared about the health of their community.” More
I am tired, but each day I go to work, I continue to pour my heart, soul, and mind into my patients. Being a critical care and emergency medicine physician is a job I love. More
The Crow reservation in Montana has one of the nation’s worst recent outbreaks—one of many rural communities now being hit by the virus. The people helping combat the disease spend their days and nights trying to save their own family and friends. More
As numbers of infections cases climb in the United States and the country faces what health experts say will be a dark winter due to the uncontrolled spread of the virus, the demand for testing becomes greater. More
A new analysis finds wide variation among healthcare workers in how they view their organization's diversity and inclusion efforts. More
What makes the US so different from other wealthy countries when it comes to maternal health? More
I first encountered Susie Yellowtail (Crow) in a July 1934 letter in which a physician on her reservation condemned her for making “selfish” requests on health workers’ time and resources. More