20 Years Ago, a Landmark Report Spotlighted Systemic Racism in Medicine. Why Has So Little Changed?

February 23, 2022

(STAT News) – “Unequal Treatment” was the first major report to point to longstanding systemic racism — not poverty, lack of access to health care, or other social factors — as a major reason for the nation’s deeply entrenched health disparities. The authors, a blue-ribbon panel of the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine, hoped their work would kickstart a national discussion and lead to much-needed change. At the time, the report sent shock waves through medicine. David R. Williams, a committee member and health equity scholar then at the University of Michigan, called the findings “a wake-up call for every healthcare professional.” (Read More)