Paper #2 - Maribeth Suganuma
Are you healthily misinformed?
HST 401
In a perfect world, patients should be able to trust the care and treatment provided to them by medical professionals. In this post-truth era, patients often succumb to misinformed decisions and improper treatment from healthcare professionals who should be taking care of our well-being. Medical professionals are misinformed and suffer from diluted education concerning the type of treatment they recommend and how they treat female patients, specifically African-American female patients. Through multiple articles examined in this paper, it can be seen that medical professionals offer high-risk or improper treatment, can be negligent in practice, and lastly diluted by misinformation stemming from a possible systemic issue.
In middle school, my face, knees, and arms were covered in eczema. I was embarrassed to show my skin at school and I lived in California. It can get pretty hot there sometimes. My doctor recommended I take an oral steroid because my condition had become unmanageable with topical steroid creams. However, there is a long list of side effects that come with this treatment. For example, skin thinning, acne, hair loss, weight gain, high blood pressure, gut issues, and stunted growth in children. At the time, all of these possibilities were worth the risk if I could get rid of my eczema.
From my personal experience, I have struggled with eczema my entire life. Currently, there is no cure for eczema. The National Eczema Association defines eczema as an “inflammatory skin condition that causes dry skin, itchiness, rashes, scaly patches, blisters, and skin infections.” According to my Primary Healthcare Physician, there is no known cause of eczema, but there are many triggers that may cause eczema to develop such as environment, food, stress, and family history.
A study conducted in 2017 through Perspective showed, “In a pretest administered to a sampling of more than 500 physicians, clinical pharmacists and other healthcare professionals attending evidence-based medicine training programmes in 2002 and 2003, 70 per cent failed a simple three-question critical appraisal training programme test” (John P. A. Ioannidis, Et. al, 2017).
From an article published in 2017 by biologist and researcher in the spinal cord field, Vieri Failli, “Medicines often work by taking the place of one of the body’s regulating chemicals to readjust the balance…This means that a medicine might readjust one balance while disturbing others that would normally not need retuning”. Psychiatrist, Peter D. Kramer, thought he had come across a side-effect-free drug. In an article from Psychology Today published in 2008, he explains how he went to a “top-notch academic surgeon” to consult on a chronic problem. The surgeon prescribed a side-effect-free drug, which Peter could not believe. However, Peter later found out that some of the patients had experienced side effects. Peter questioned, “How badly had I been fooled?”
Given the amount of evidence people have brought forth against medical misinformation one could conclude that medical professionals are not well-educated and don't establish proper flow of communication regarding their recommendations. In an article by John P. A. Ioannidis, “How to survive the medical misinformation mess,” the article concludes that “healthcare professionals involved in medical decision-making should possess basic critical appraisal skills and be knowledgeable about which sources of information are likely to be accurate and relevant” (John P. A. Ioannidis, Et. al, 2017). The importance of being educated on where to source your medical information and what information should be trusted is a critical skill doctors need, but many are not informed.
“Studies assessing medical student competencies suggest they frequently do not see or are not taught the relevance of EBM (Evidence-Based Medicine) to clinical care and are neither motivated nor prepared to apply EBM skills. Upon entry to residency programmes, their ability to appraise the medical literature critically is extremely limited” (John P. A. Ioannidis, Et. al, 2017).
A contrary way of thinking, John Horgan, a professor from Stevens Institute of Technology, stated “Increased, higher-resolution testing leads to increased overdiagnosis, the term for diagnosis based on detection of harmless anomalies. Overdiagnosis leads in turn to overtreatment with unneeded chemotherapy, radiation and surgery” (Stevens Institute of Technology 2023). This is an overgeneralized statement that could be misinterpreted. If I had known the risk of eczema affecting my life earlier on, I would have been more attentive to moisturizing and keeping a regimen to avoid the issue altogether. My father was even able to catch his cancer early and was granted a high chance of survival. Where my grandfather was not as lucky because he did not have preliminary tests to check for this cancer.
There is much confusion around the right decision when it comes to educated and proper personal healthcare choices. This is apparent even more so in the disparity in medical treatment given to women of color compared to white women.
My boyfriend’s mother, who is African-American, tells me her story of going to the emergency room. She had severe pain in her abdominal region, but the ER she went to initially did not want to admit her. They were relatively busy, but her pain was undermined. When she gave up and went to another ER, she was admitted immediately and told if she waited longer she could have not survived.
An article written by Shannon Schumacher and others published by the Kaiser Family Foundation reported “About one in five (21%) Black women say they have been treated unfairly by a health care provider or their staff because of their racial or ethnic background and a similar share (22%) of Black women who have been pregnant or gave birth in the past ten years say they were refused pain medication they thought they needed.” which is “seven times as likely” compared to White women (3%) (Shannon Schumacher, Et, al., 2024).
In an article from Jillian Mckoy, a researcher at Boston University, she states “Researchers are also measuring the impact of structural racism, a relatively new term in public discourse that refers to the ways in which societies foster discrimination in policies or practices—perhaps less overt than “daily” racism, but still a reflection of the historically racist systems that remain embedded within society” (Mckoy 2023). Healthcare is a part of our society too and can be affected by the same problems that plague the rest of society and should be addressed.
Medical healthcare is not as developed as one would hope regarding medical education provided to medical professionals. Not being well educated in the type of medical literature that is being referenced along with proper medical practice, how to communicate findings to patients, and how to properly treat patients accordingly. The education provided to healthcare professionals is diluted with misinformation. While we currently do not have the technology to create the perfect drug for everyone, our healthcare professionals need to take the responsibility to learn what is credible information and how to treat their patients with open and honest communication and equal treatment regardless of race.
References:
Boston University. (2023). Racism, sexism, and the crisis of Black women's health. Boston University. https://www.bu.edu/articles/2023/racism-sexism-and-the-crisis-of-black-womens-health/
National Eczema Association. (n.d.). Eczema. https://nationaleczema.org/eczema/
Wings for Life. (n.d.). Why all medicines have side effects. Wings for Life. https://www.wingsforlife.com/uk/latest/blog-why-all-medicines-have-side-effects-2900/
Psychology Today. (2008, October). Drugs: No side effects? In Practice. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-practice/200810/drugs-no-side-effects
Horgan, J. (n.d.). The cancer industry: Hype versus reality. John Horgan. https://johnhorgan.org/cross-check/the-cancer-industry-hype-versus-reality
Ioannidis, J. P. A. (n.d.). How to survive the medical misinformation mess. Perspective.
Kaiser Family Foundation. (2023). Five facts about Black women's experiences in health care. KFF. https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/five-facts-about-black-womens-experiences-in-health-care/#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20about%20one%20in,were%20refused%20pain%20medication%20they
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