Implicit bias in health care

We want to tell you a story: Jessica Love Burnside’s 4-yearold son Seth has had a complex medical history, so last month, her mother’s intuition about his sudden illness was even more important than usual. Yet, this Black American woman’s pleas to hospital staff for attention as her son’s oxygenation and heart rate cratered to zero were ignored until she was tragically witnessing her child’s cardiac arrest. The boy survived, and the resulting Facebook Live video went viral because her rage vividly illuminated the painful health disparities evident in America.

During a taping of “The Dr. Oz Show” this week, on which Jessica appears, a Black producer commented that Black women see white doctors the same way that Black men see white police officers. Jessica and other Black women supported this biting commentary. This heartbreaking comment pokes holes in our belief that the culture of medicine prevents implicit bias from penetrating doctors’ sacred vows.

COVID-19 highlighted the racial discrepancy in health outcomes, with Black people dying over twice as frequently per capita as white people. We also know that Black women are 243% more likely to die from childbirth-related causes.

Interestingly, disparities are less prevalent when the attending physician is also Black. According to a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Black infants are roughly two times more likely to die under the care of a white physician than under the care of a Black physician, which corresponds to a 58% reduction in mortality.

As our society struggles to eradicate implicit bias, we need leaders on the ground who acknowledge its prevalence and work to break down the barriers in individual institutions that reinforce prejudice and bias. In our health care system, this translates to more doctors of color. Next week, we’ll explore a game plan to do just that.

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit www.sharecare.com.