Episode 5 - Unrest: Injustice Under the Law and in Health

The following is a lightly edited transcript of Episode 5 of the Treat Us Right podcast with links to relevant content.

Run time: 13:53

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Episode 5 - Unrest: Injustice Under the Law and in Health

Hey everyone. Welcome to Episode 5 of the Treat Us Right podcast. This is David Williams, Founder & CEO of Karen Health. I admit, this will be a tough episode. I had a number of interviews planned to air in this slot, but as you all know—

The world changed in 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

The killing of George Floyd set off worldwide protests. Finally. This. Has. To. Stop. As a black man, I could see myself in Mr. Floyd. He was just about my age. He still had a long life to live.

But George Floyd’s death by police is different. It feels different. It’s not just black people shouting Black Lives Matter. White people and allies of every different color and creed have hit the streets. Like Dave Chappelle said, the streets are talking—the streets are shouting for justice.

This has to stop. No more needless and avoidable death by the real police:  

Like Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and most recently Rayshard Brooks.

Or the fake or off-duty police

Like Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery and Botham Jean.

Not one more person should die at the hands of police for things that white people would laugh about as prank stories at cocktail parties.

I wrote a statement on the Sunday following George Floyd’s death to the Care3 community entitled, Unrest: Injustice Under the Law and in Health. I’d like to share some of it here:

I can’t breathe. -George Floyd and others

Yesterday was a rough day. I spent the morning delivering groceries to a family with special needs children. They are unable to go to the store because of COVID-19. The family lives in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles and the protests were just getting started at 10am. By the early evening, the protesters were clashing with police within steps of where this extremely vulnerable family lives.

In these extraordinary, and now turbulent times, we must understand the context of unrest and uprising. In a recent Treat Us Right podcast episode, I reviewed how COVID-19 exploded the impact of health disparities--the statistically proven reality that people of color, the poor, disabled, and seniors receive inadequate healthcare in the United States.

"It seems that Black folks are dying at a rate DOUBLE our population representation in each community across the country. This begs the question of why? The conclusion: Health disparities are caused by racial inequities."

The death of George Floyd and the footage of the white police officer kneeling on Mr. Floyd's neck has caused an eruption. Black people were already sensitive based on the disproportionate deaths due to COVID-19 in our community.  Mr. Floyd's death ripped open an already bleeding wound. With protests raging across the country, the reason for this unrest is injustice. This is all about fairness.

And it is about fairness. About equity. About equality. I have linked to the statement on the blog post accompanying this podcast so you can read it. The statement has been viewed more than 7,000 times across channels. People want to read about these experiences, learn from perspectives, delve into the deep conversations. Now is the time to share stories.

In another compelling and heartbreaking post, a friend of mine asked this question of black men:

When was the first time you had the police point a gun at you?

No one ever forgets having a gun pointed at you. I was 22 my first and only time. Late night traffic stop in New Jersey. That story is for another day, but the post had over 300 comments. Stories of black men and the police pointing guns at them. At 22, I was one of the OLDEST first-timers. Multiple men said they were 8 and 9. 13 was common. 15 and 16 had stories of harassment so common to black teens.

Every time that happened, we were all one poor judgment call from death.

Treat. Us. Right.

And with that title, there is another meaning. We are still in a viral pandemic. COVID-19 is still ravaging the world and the lack of effective response hasn’t reduced the spread the way it should have by now in the US. 2 million+ cases. More than 116,000 people have lost their lives.

And now we have to protest around the world because the police shouldn’t kill us—but we are breaking social distancing which has proven to reduce spread. This will undoubtedly lead to more cases. More deaths of black people because the initial response wasn’t handled well by the federal government.

A study out of Columbia University says 84% of deaths could have been avoided with better response. 84%! All the families in mourning having needlessly lost a loved one because someone didn’t like the playbook created by a team led by a black man. Am I overstating it? I don’t think so.

Why? Health disparities among black people are caused by racial inequality. Healthcare inequality is an outcome of racial inequality.

Racism in healthcare is both interpersonal in terms of conscious and unconscious bias as well as institutional based on restricted access to the best doctors, treatments and facilities.

So not only are black people more likely to be infected by coronavirus from providing essential work or being connected to those people, but we are also more likely to get subpar care. That’s just facts.

If you need examples of each, look no further than Ohio Emergency Physician Steve Huffman. He wonders out loud if COVID-19 spread among black people is due to poor hygiene. This man is treating patients AND sits in the Ohio State Senate. Well, he used to practice emergency medicine. His comments and bias got him fired. He should NOT be treating patients.

On March 26, the HHS Office for Civil Rights in Action issued a bulletin entitled, Civil Rights, HIPAA, and the Coronavirus Disease 2010 (COVID-19). The purpose of the bulletin was to explicitly state that patients could not be discriminated against for treatment of COVID-19 on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, and exercise of conscience of religion. OK, they got that right.

The bulletin also unintentionally makes a giant statement:

Decisions by covered entities concerning whether an individual is a candidate for treatment should be based on an individualized assessment of the patient based on the best available objective medical evidence.”

What this statement is saying is that doctors should consider what they know in the moment about the patient and what the medical evidence says about how to proceed with treatment in similar cases. Sounds reasonable, right?

But there are problems:

1.     What if the doctors don’t have any personal information on you in the moment? Electronic Medical Records systems may not have relevant information on your health experience outside of previous hospital visits, if any information at all.

2.     The peer-reviewed medical data that is supposed to be referenced is also problematic. It is well documented that people of color are underrepresented in medical research.

See where this is going? You or a loved one could be in a situation where the doctor has very little information about you, and the medical evidence available doesn’t have any data on people like you.

What happens then? Well, the doctors make treatment decisions based on their experiences--and their biases.  

Healthcare inequality among black people is a direct result of racism. Both social and institutional.

Treat. Us. Right.

How can we change this? How can we alter this course for ourselves, our families?

The answer is within us all.

The way to beat this is to know your personal health experience. Transform your health experience into data, and have that data available to be shared with the healthcare system in any situation—an emergency, a routine doctor visit, and everything in between. That way, doctors can make individualized decisions based on YOUR data from YOUR health experiences, and not be left for their judgment or bias to treat you.

It is this discovery that drives Karen Health. We can show you how to create data from your health experience. In only two minutes a day, you can generate the data you need and have it shareable in any health situation. Our mission is healthcare equality. That starts with you and each of us.

Treat. Us. Right.

Learn how we can help you and your family be ready for any health situation by consolidating and generating family health information at www.yeskaren.com/families.

Treat Us Right. In healthcare. In equality. In justice. Take care everyone.