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Study: African-Americans Get Lower-Quality Health Care Than Whites

Aired March 20, 2002 - 11:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A study out today says that African- Americans get lower-quality health care than whites do, and having money or good insurance doesn't appear to matter.

Our medical news correspondent Rea Blakey is in our Washington bureau, and she has details on all of this this morning.

Hello, Rea.

REA BLAKEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Leon.

The report begins with a story of Robert Tooles. you'll remember him, he's the first surviving recipient of a fully implantable artificial heart. He has since died, but the pictures of Tooles at news conferences surrounded by white doctors symbolized for some people the irrelevance of race in health care today.

But this blockbuster report by what some consider to be the supreme court of medicine, well, it blows the lid of off that perception.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REA BLAKEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Institute of Medicine study confirms what many blacks have long suspected: white patients are getting more aggressive health care than blacks, regardless of income or insurance coverage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the study was done correctly, it wouldn't necessarily surprise that that came out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think most black people are aware of this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Studies are just catching up. It's been existing.

BLAKEY: The study concludes not only is there overwhelming evidence that blacks get lower quality care, but that second-class care leads to higher death rates in blacks when it comes to HIV AIDS, cancer and heart disease.

Among her patients, cardiologist Patricia Davidson (ph) also sees the double whammy of racial and gender disparity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very disturbing that people can not look at an African-American woman and perceive that she may have heart disease as a possibility and be referred appropriate for the test they would refer everyone else for.

BLAKEY (voice-over): Perhaps one of the more shocking results of the study, black men with advanced prostate cancer are more than twice as likely as white men to be referred for surgical castration.

(voice-over): The procedure is rare these days. Most patients opt for testosterone-reducing medications. Urologist Mike Manyak disputes the racial difference. He hasn't performed a castration in a decade.

DR. MICHAEL MANYAK, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIV. MEDICAL CENTER: I can tell you that in this large urban setting, we do not see that as a trend at all.

BLAKEY: The Institute of Medicine researchers also found the rate of amputations related to diabetes three times higher for blacks than for whites.

DR. CAMERON AKBARI, WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CTR.: Typically, their disease, their diabetic vascular disease, has been neglected longer.

BLAKEY: Vascular surgeons, like Dr. Cameron Akbari, often see patients with advanced disease and multiple health problem, patients like diabetic Rudolph Smith, whose right leg recently amputated above the knee.

RUDOLPH SMITH, DIABETES PATIENT: I starting to notice my left foot, and it was beginning to turn black.

BLAKEY: The second amputation surgery would have taken one hour, instead Dr. Akbari performed a five-hour surgery, searching for a healthy vein to replace the damaged leg vein. It saved Mr. Smith from becoming a double amputee.

SMITH: I'm not displeased. I'm not displeased. I think he did a heck of a job.

BLAKEY: This time, the partnership between minority patient and doctor worked well. But according to the Institute of Medicine, all too often, that's not the case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLAKEY: Now The Institute of Medicine was charged with ruling out any differences based on socioeconomic status. They looked at 600 medical articles, and across a wide spectrum of medical conditions, their conclusion is minorities are receiving a lesser quality of care than whites.

HARRIS: Rea Blakey in Washington. Thank you very much. Very interesting. Appreciate that. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com