The True Price of Medical Bias for Black Women in 2025: A Life-Threatening Issue

Welcome to ZAMONA's exclusive series on Race and Medicine, where we reveal the harsh realities of racism embedded in healthcare and honor the health journeys of Black individuals, striving for a future free from medical discrimination.

Doctors hold a unique responsibility: they access deeply personal information yet often fail to truly see their patients as whole individuals.

Patients must openly share their health concerns, while doctors should listen impartially to diagnose accurately.

Unfortunately, racial bias disrupts this crucial trust, often leading to disbelief of symptoms, incorrect diagnoses, and fractured patient-doctor relationships.

When bias prevails, patients may lose faith in their care, skip appointments, or withhold vital health details, worsening outcomes.

Addressing and reducing bias is essential to closing health disparities, especially for Black women.

My Personal Encounter with Medical Bias

Years ago, I faced medical bias amid frequent headaches unlike any migraine I’d experienced before. I felt drained, constantly thirsty, and unable to eat enough without debilitating fatigue and blurred vision.

My primary doctor dismissed my concerns, attributing my weight loss to brain adjustment to less food. Referral to a headache specialist led to ineffective treatments and growing disorientation.

Despite worsening symptoms, my concerns were minimized until I insisted on testing for diabetes. Shockingly, the lab ordered unrelated STD tests instead of the critical HbA1c blood sugar test.

Feeling humiliated and ignored, I broke down, highlighting the emotional toll of medical bias.

Recognizing Subtle Racism in Healthcare

Subtle racism often goes unacknowledged, dismissed as isolated or exaggerated, yet numerous studies reveal systemic patterns of bias.

Research from Michigan cancer hospitals shows biased oncologists spend less time and answer fewer questions from Black patients, fostering mistrust.

Such implicit bias extends beyond medicine, affecting trust in teachers, law enforcement, and other authority figures.

The Accelerated Aging of Black Women

A 2010 study revealed that due to chronic stress from racism, Black women biologically age 7.5 years faster than white women of the same age, underscoring the health burden of discrimination.

The Life-Threatening Consequences of Substandard Care

Subpar medical care dehumanizes and endangers lives. My untreated symptoms could have led to accidents or worse.

Statistics are stark: in 2016, Black women faced a maternal mortality rate 3.25 times higher than white women, and Black infants die at 2.3 times the rate of non-Black infants.

Historic redlining has left many Black and indigenous communities in medically underserved areas, lacking quality healthcare access.

Black Women Face 3.25 Times Higher Pregnancy Mortality Rates

The High Cost of Bias: Real Stories

Tye’sha Fluker from Boston endured over a year of stomach pain dismissed as psychological by doctors who prescribed anxiety meds instead of proper tests.

Only after collapsing was she diagnosed with a severe ulcer caused by H. Pylori bacteria, requiring hospitalization.

Had medical bias training been standard, Fluker’s suffering might have been avoided.

Dr. Monya De shares that bias education was absent in her medical training, and she has witnessed unequal care based on bias.

Short appointments in community clinics disproportionately affect people of color, limiting thorough care.

Psychologist Cleopatra Abdou Kamperveen, PhD, highlights the measurable human and financial costs of unconscious bias in healthcare and has developed training to help providers recognize and prevent biased decisions.

Kamperveen stresses that such biases have deadly consequences, including the loss of her own mother during childbirth.

Photography by Elias Williams

Eliminating Bias at Its Core

Combating medical bias starts with simple yet impactful steps:

• Doctors must validate and listen to women of color without dismissing their experiences.
• Medical education should integrate anti-bias training to raise awareness early.
• Healthcare organizations need to perform internal audits analyzing patient outcomes by race, gender, and other demographics to identify disparities.

These audits can also investigate patient complaints and reasons for leaving practices, enabling targeted improvements.

Trusting Black Women’s Voices

"Black women are not crazy; they understand their bodies and know when something is wrong," says Fluker.

Reflecting on my experience, after switching doctors, I was finally diagnosed with late-onset type 1 diabetes, with a care plan developed collaboratively.

Within a month, my symptoms improved dramatically, proving the power of being heard and treated with respect.

Unchecked bias cost me months of health and peace of mind. Black women and their advocates must recognize that solutions exist—and that our lives depend on addressing this issue.

Julie Pierce Onos, a Yale graduate and seasoned writer with over 15 years of experience, contributes her expertise to ZAMONA, focusing on organizational and personal growth in the Boston area.

Discover engaging topics and analytical content in Sexual Wellness as of 04-10-2020. The article titled " The True Price of Medical Bias for Black Women in 2025: A Life-Threatening Issue " provides new insights and practical guidance in the Sexual Wellness field. Each topic is meticulously analyzed to deliver actionable information to readers.

The topic " The True Price of Medical Bias for Black Women in 2025: A Life-Threatening Issue " helps you make smarter decisions within the Sexual Wellness category. All topics on our website are unique and offer valuable content for our audience.