Study Reveals That Black Children Receive Less Pain Medication Than White Children
In a recent study, researchers examined data from 900,000 children spanning from 2003 through to 2010, and found that black children receive less pain medication than white kids, although the symptoms/diagnosis was the same. The study focused on acute appendicitis, which is a rather painful condition, and found that while 41 percent of children were given opioid drugs to help ease their pain, only 12 percent of black children received the same medication.
The reason for the difference is a mystery, since any doctor would claim to treat all racial groups equally. Two prominent Boston specialists speculated in a commentary about what could cause the surprising failure to lessen black children’s pain adequately: “If there is no physiological explanation for differing treatment of the same phenomena, we are left with the notion that subtle biases, implicit and explicit, conscious and unconscious, influence the clinician’s judgment.”
NBC News noted that historically there has been a fear that giving opioid painkillers may cause addiction. Another theory is that there might be a cultural difference in that African-American children may not be as likely to say they’re feeling pain. No one knows for sure, so additional studies may need to be completed to figure out the reasons for the unequal treatment.
