A Prescription for Reducing Bias in Medical Care

The Dose

Racial bias in medical care extends all the way to the prescription pad. Research shows that people of color are less likely to receive the most effective treatments for life-threatening conditions, including cancer and heart disease.

One way to address this is by aiming for “pharmacoequity” — where all patients, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, disability, or other characteristics, have access to the highest-quality evidence-based medical therapies that meet their health needs.

On the latest episode of The Dose, the man who coined this term, Utibe Essien, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, explains what it will take to achieve pharmacoequity.

“The data are not lying about how we're prescribing medications,” Essien says. To eliminate such biases, he believes we must be honest about the data and develop strategies to ensure greater equity.