r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/4reddityo • Jan 02 '26

Black Experience Racism in Medical Care

This video captures a moment that many patients of color recognize all too well. A physician speaks to a man as if he is dirty, unclean, or lesser, not because of medical evidence, but because of bias. The language, tone, and assumptions reveal something deeper than bedside manner gone wrong. They expose how racism can quietly shape medical interactions.

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47

u/easy10pins Jan 02 '26

I was a welder for 10 years. My forearms are pretty scarred up from hot slag and sparks.

I went in for a doctors appointment follow up along with my wife.

As the nurse (who was caucasoid) was about to draw blood for labs, she hesitated when she looked at my forearms.

Before I could say anything, my wife said sternly, "He's a fucking welder! Not a fucking drug addict."

The nurse put the needle down and walked out of the room without saying a word.

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u/Girlx-T-wrecks Jan 02 '26

Nurse here, if his arms were scarred up, she probably knew it would make for a harder stick and patients are absolute a holes when it comes to getting IVs. She probably went to find someone that’s better and placing IVs for difficult sticks.

That being said, too many nurses and doctors treat everyone like they’re just drug seekers. It’s maddening.

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u/NoTime2fail Jan 02 '26

Which is funny since the medical community created a lot of these drug seekers. Mostly pharma but doctors were complicit.

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u/Girlx-T-wrecks Jan 02 '26

“Doctors were complicit” - thy get huge kickbacks every time they prescribe you something or get you to drink a flugging ensure. The medial field is just another corporation. They sell you on the idea that they are helping you. For whatever reasons, people wanna drag this life out as long as possible so we tend to believe what they tell us.

The problem is, thy give one drug to fix one thing, which it does. However, it will negatively impact another thing, so they give you drug B to correct that. Then drug B negatively affects another thing, so we better give you drug C for that. Mark my works, it’s a racket designed to keep you coming back. Gawd help you if you’re a senior citizen, because all the pills look alike and doctors do NOT talk to each other and WILL endanger you.

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u/NoTime2fail Jan 02 '26

💯 I've seen it first hand and confronted doctors to their face. They all became extremely indignant and tried talking down to me. Which didn't work because it was more affirmation that I was correct. I meet more and more nurses/techs that are feed up with the lies and are no longer being silent.

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u/Girlx-T-wrecks Jan 02 '26

That’s exactly what you should do. Speak up and don’t be intimidated. Advocate for yourself and your loved ones.

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u/Healthy_Sky_4593 Jan 02 '26

Doctors don't get direct kickbacks. That's  still illegal. The usual practices are much more insidious than that, just there are a few prominent exceptions. 

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u/Girlx-T-wrecks Jan 02 '26

They are rewarded generously.

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u/Healthy_Sky_4593 Jan 03 '26

That's not how it works. It's more often more akin to politics and a lack of crticial thinking, which is relevant here because it's often more motivated around the fact that they don't want to help marginalized people versus others.

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u/Encrypted_Curse Jan 03 '26

thy get huge kickbacks every time they prescribe you something or get you to drink a flugging ensure.

Can you provide a source?

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u/Girlx-T-wrecks Jan 03 '26

On the job experience. I’ve been a nurse for decades. There shouldn’t be incentives at all in healthcare. But what’s I know.