Health Care Racism
by Bob Braile, D.C.
I can remember as a small child watching a history changing event on television. Dr. Martin Luther King was speaking in front of thousands of people telling them about his dream. Since those days I have seen that particular speech hundreds of times. He spoke about letting freedom ring, he spoke about equality, he spoke about all people being together. 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 the civil rights movement.
Recently, one of my patients returned to me after a few months interruption in her care. As glad as I was to see her again, I was taken back when she told me the reason she stopped coming. It seems that she had gone to some medical practitioner for an unrelated problem. This doctor then told my patient that he would not take care of her if she continued to go to a chiropractor. I was stunned that any doctor would say that to any patient about any other doctor.
A few weeks earlier one of my staff was calling a pediatric center in my area to get a medicaid authorization number for two children who were already under my care. The parents of these children had seen marked improvements with their children in the past. Now they recently changed to one of those HMO medicaid groups, so they needed authorization from their primary physician. When my staff person asked for the authorization number, she was abruptly told that the entire clinic 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 of blatant harassment and negative statements being made by members of the medical community. Sometimes these stories are even planted in the press to try to discredit the entire profession. 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 to prejudice, and ultimately putrefies into racism. While other forms of prejudice and racism are deemed politically incorrect, "Heath Care Racism" still continues unchecked and in many instances is even governmentally sanctioned. But, just like other forms of racism, health care racism must now come to an end.
For anyone who might not know, chiropractic is more than a profession, more than a healing art, more than just a group of licensed professionals. Chiropractic, for many people, 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 right to attend to one’s own well being and health is covered under these inalienable rights. Therefore, interference with these rights would be a violation of an individual’s civil rights.
I’m not suggesting here that it is a violation of civil rights to deny insurance or government payment for every form of health care that an individual requests. But, it should be a violation of civil rights when one doctor tells a patient that they will stop caring for them if they go to see another type of doctor. It should be considered politically incorrect and racist for any group in health care to spread lies and fear about another group with a different set of beliefs.
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. Ironic, I have seen thousands of cases where medical prejudice has delayed the timely onset of chiropractic care to a patient who would have benefited. 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. There have been cases where chiropractors were investigated for "practicing medicine" by allegedly telling patients to stop taking drugs. Yet, I have never heard of a single investigation or prosecution of an MD for practicing chiropractic with out a license for telling a patient to stop chiropractic care. It seems the door should swing both ways in this type of scenario. It is my opinion that any MD, either on his own, or acting as an insurance plan gatekeeper, who makes a decision regarding the necessity for chiropractic care is acting outside the scope of their license and should be subject to prosecution.
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 at large is intelligent enough to make their own health care decisions when given the facts without the need for bias slander from any member of the health care profession. Racism in any form is ugly, ignorant, and must be eliminated. Likewise, "Health Care Racism" must also come to an end.
Illigitimati Non Carborundum
by Bob Braile, D.C.
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.
Recently, 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 seen marked improvements with their children from my care. When my staff person asked for the authorization number, she was abruptly told that the entire clinic 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. Yet, I have never heard of a single investigation or prosecution of an MD for practicing chiropractic with out a license by telling a patient to stop chiropractic care. It seems the door should swing both ways. 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.
Illigitimati Non Carborundum