No Racism in Medicine? No, Racism Everywhere Even in Deep Space By Brian Simpson
JAMA, which is not a brand of jam, but is Journal of the American Medical Association, has apologized for a tweet saying that there is no racism in medicine because doctors are not racist. No, racism is everywhere, even in deep dark space. Space crafts, some of alien origin, face the constant threat of being ship wrecked by crashing into roaming white racism, spreading across the cosmos.
“The Journal of the American Medical Association drew outrage for tweeting ‘No physician is racist, so how can there be structural racism in health care?’
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) issued an apology over a now-deleted tweet on Thursday that questioned whether structural racism exists in medicine.
As critics noted, many studies published in JAMA itself have provided evidence that such systemic inequalities are alive and well in the American health care system, which has only become more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Black and Latino Americans bear a disproportionate share of COVID-19 illness and death. People of color are also getting vaccinated against the coronavirus at much lower rates compared with white Americans. And prior to the pandemic, this 2000 JAMA article notes that “socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in health care quality have been extensively documented.”
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The tweet that set off the firestorm on Thursday was promoting a Feb. 23 podcast hosted by JAMA and entitled “Structural Racism for Doctors—What Is It?” The episode featured host Dr. Ed Livingston, the deputy editor for clinical reviews and education at JAMA, and Dr. Mitchell Katz, president and chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospitals, discussing structural racism. “Many physicians are skeptical of structural racism, the idea that economic, educational, and other social systems preferentially disadvantage Black Americans and other communities of color,” reads the episode description.
The now-deleted post from JAMA’s official Twitter account pushing the podcast doubled-down on that skepticism: “No physician is racist, so how can there be structural racism in healthcare?” it asked. And that sparked outrage among some followers, including many who identified themselves as doctors. This led to “JAMA” trending on Twitter on Thursday morning.”
So, should JAMA now be cancelled along with Dr Seuss?
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