Health Care Racism
I can remember as a small child watching Dr. Martin Luther King speaking in front of thousands of people telling them about his dream. He spoke about letting freedom ring, he spoke about equality, he spoke about all people being together. Since those days I have seen that particular speech hundreds of times. To this day, I am still moved to tears when he finishes his speech with "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty I’m free at last."
Dr. King’s vision of strength and courage led a movement that went a long way toward removing racial prejudice. And, although there is still much work to be done, at least we have started. The health care industry, and its practitioners and business people, could learn a lot from Dr. King and the civil rights movement.
I can remember an incident where one of my patients returned to me after a few months interruption in her care. She told me the reason she stopped coming is that her MD had told her that he would not take care of her if she continued to go to a chiropractor. A few weeks earlier one of my staff was calling a pediatric center in my area to get a Medicaid HMO authorization number for two children. The parents of these children had already seen marked improvements with their children from our care. When my staff person asked for the authorization number, she was abruptly told that the entire center was no longer authorizing any chiropractic care. The person on the other end of the phone further stated that they "weren’t paid enough to authorize chiropractic care."
These two examples are not isolated. Every chiropractor can tell similar stories. These incidents hopefully represent a minority of the medical community’s opinion. But no matter what the particular story is, these incidents are all based on the same thing,... ignorance!
Ignorance is what starts stereotypes, grows into prejudice, and ultimately putrefies into racism. While other forms of prejudice and racism are deemed ugly, intolerable, and politically incorrect, "Heath Care Racism" still continues unchecked and in many instances is even governmentally sanctioned.
Over the years I have seen interviews with certain medical individuals who try to suggest that chiropractors are dangerous because they may delay the onset of medical care. Ironically, I have personally seen thousands of cases where medical prejudice has delayed the timely onset of chiropractic care to a patient. Yet, I have never seen anyone persecuted or prosecuted for it.
As a Doctor of Chiropractic I do not wish, nor am I allowed to prescribe drugs. I am also not permitted to tell a patient to stop taking drugs. Chiropractors have been prosecuted for "practicing medicine" by allegedly telling patients to stop taking drugs.
On the other hand, I have never heard of a single investigation or prosecution of an MD for practicing chiropractic without a license by telling a patient to stop chiropractic care. It seems the door only swings one way. In my opinion any MD who makes a decision regarding the necessity for chiropractic care is acting outside the scope of their license and should be subject to prosecution.
Chiropractic is more than just a profession, it is a way of life, a belief system about wellness and health. The U.S. Bill Of Rights provides for the inalienable rights to "...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Certainly the rights to attend to one’s own well being and health are covered under these inalienable rights.
The time has come for the health care industry to leave the age of ignorance and prejudice and enter the age of education and understanding. The public is intelligent enough to make their own health care decisions when given the facts. Racism in any form is ugly, ignorant, and must be eliminated. Likewise, "Health Care Racism" must also come to an end.