Doctors and nurses are not racists. They’re everyday heroes. But left-wing activists and their media allies, including The New York Times, blame health care workers for the poorer health outcomes of Black patients. That’s a cheap shot and a lie.
On Sunday, the Times published a front-page story based on an analysis of U.S. census data showing that Black women die during childbirth or lose their newborns more often than white women. Even affluent Black women and their babies die at higher rates. Money doesn’t insulate them from worse health outcomes.
The actual analysis didn’t blame racism for what happens to Black mothers, or include any evidence – not a shred – that doctors and nurses caring for pregnant women and newborns are racist.
Even so, the Times pushed the conclusion that higher death rates are the “effects of racism” because minority mothers are “treated differently and given different access to interventions.” That’s false.
What is to blame? Obesity, early teen pregnancy and hypertension (high blood pressure) are major causes of the higher deaths rates. These problems demand our attention.
But many activists would rather exploit the race card for political gain rather than deal with the causes of these deaths. New York State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett is one of them. Urging support for national reparations, Basset argues that reparations “can bring us closer” to “end(ing) racial health inequities.” That’s ridiculous.
A Zoom presentation sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York and the Rochester Black Nurses Association accused nurses of deliberately not answering the call buttons of Black patients and warned about “KKK in the hospitals.”
Falsehoods like these could scare Black women from getting the prenatal and postpartum care they need and currently fail to seek.
The New York Times article never mentions the actual causes of infant mortality, starting with obesity. A baby born to an obese mother faces a 55% higher risk of dying within a year, according to National Vital Statistics. Obesity is most prevalent among the Black population.
Teen pregnancy is the other major infant killer. Black and Hispanic teens are more than twice as likely to give birth as white teens. Unfortunately, teens often don’t seek prenatal care. They also lack the pelvic structure to carry babies to term, so their babies tend to be born prematurely. “Reflecting these increased risk factors, infants born to women of color are at higher risk for mortality compared to those born to White women,” reports the Kaiser Family Foundation.
That so many of these prematurely born infants survive is a testament to the expertise and unbiased heroism of doctors and nurses working in the OB-GYN services who do everything in their power to save them, expending enormous resources in the process.
Still, nearly 44,000 infants die in their first year of life. By comparison, the official maternal mortality death figure is 861 per year.
Maternal mortality is being hyped as a “crisis” by the Biden administration and liberal media. The White House announced a “whole-of-government approach” to combatting it. In fact, it’s a small problem. Of course, even one mother dying is tragic. But compare 861 maternal deaths to the 99,000 patients who die yearly from hospital-acquired infections.
Health care professionals have more urgent tasks than being indoctrinated with anti-racism.
Yet the Biden administration is requiring doctors paid by Medicare to show a “commitment to anti-racism” and submit an “anti-racism plan” or be penalized with lower payments. The Medicare rule, found in the Federal Register, Nov. 19, 2021, at page 65,969, actually parrots Ibram X. Kendi’s concept in his book “How to Be an Antiracist” that the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination and prioritizing certain populations.
Does that mean doctors must give white, Asian and Hispanic patients less time and fewer referrals to specialists? Such ideas have no place in medicine.
This push for anti-racism in medicine will not save the lives of Black infants or their mothers. Doctors and nurses will, doing what they always do, treating each patient with respect, regardless of skin color. They are heroes.
Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey.
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Great article!
Freeing doctors and nurses from the medically dubious vaccination and booster mandates and returning previously fired health care professionals to the former jobs or better ones would actually result in better numbers for all races I predict.
Great article, very important issue. As stated in the last paragraph respect is the element that will determine how people are treated. And respect develops in conjunction with other things, in different ways ,at different times, according to a variety of circumstances. Having principles that govern a sense of ethics is a key factor in the practice of medicine , at all levels of health care. If doctors and nurses follow a code of conduct that involves respect for people regardless of race , and if they believe in the spirit of what ethical standards are all about then that will make for a just , fair system that will be good for everyone. Thinking about what the will of God implies, and thinking about the responsibility inherent with the practice of medicine provides a foundation for doing things right and always having the spirit of respect in mind. Your writing is much appreciated Betsy.
Well done article. I have never witnessed racism in medicine. Having had an organ transplant with complications, I have months in a hospital. Given the fact that roughly 30% of workers were Blacks, and I was treated, as was everyone else, with kindness, concern, empathy and terrific care. The thought that there are different levels of care is, in my experience, bogus. The other issues mentioned, especially a lack of prenatal care, drug addicted moms and their babies, comorbidities and more are the causes of health issues for pregnant women in general, whatever race. Remember, health care workers at all levels have sworn oaths and ascribe to ethics to do what’s best for the patient. That is all I have ever witnessed, no matter the race of patient. God’s blessings for all healthcare workers.
One night as an ICU nurse (RN) in a dark tent in Afghanistan I kept two waring patients apart at gun point. I told them if the got off the cot again I would shoot them. They were both seriously wounded but wanted to kill each other and made an attempt to do so until I drew my loaded 45 and separated them. I meant what I said because everyone in the tent knew the only person, they hated more than each other was me, a white American in their country. As a nurse I treated them both as patients. They got the best care I was capable of giving, they were my patients. The following week we were attacked again and again I took care of seriously wounded captured prisoners and allies. They were my patients and got the best care I could give them. Is this any different than what nurses do in the ER’s and ICUs of our major cities everyday? I was recommended for a bronze star but the write up, still in my records was down graded. According to our commander I was the wrong rank. Only 05s and above got the Bronze star on our team. I’m just a guy who saves lives, because that what I do.
How sad that there is a need for article as this one A good dose of truth and reality would be much helpful then the victimhood and racism rant
This is the 2000’s “Cry of the left”. Their favorite word. The sad fact is, it is them who are racist. They’ve been using that word for so long, it no longer has any meaning. It is their “go to” answer for anything they can’t intelligently answer – which isn’t much. We now know out roads and bridges are racist, as well as Airplanes, single family roads, construction workers, etc., etc., etc.. These “people” are pathetic and I do not understand why they get their way. Why companies cave to their wokeness. The left has ruined this country and I don’t see it ever coming back to what is was before obama. He did keep one promise and that was to “Fundamentally change America” and the sheeple loved him. We are doomed as a country!
Wake up America! We are on our last breaths as a Nation under God if we don’t fight the 10% radical left…
Thank you for this article! I have been a physician for 43 years. I have treated all patients with respect, irregardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or age. Yet, in order to maintain my hospital staff privileges, I must waste time taking DEI training during which I must recognize my privilege. We are being ruled by fascists. Yet, AOC calls us the fascists. Go figure.