U.S. Pediatricians Call for Elimination of 'Race-Based Guidance'

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) announced that it would review its guidance to eliminate "race-based medicine," resulting in health disparities. The academy vows to re-examine its practices and policies to ensure that "race assignment as a part of clinical decision-making" is covered.

The lead author of the new policy and chief health equity officer at the University of Maryland's medical system, Dr. Joseph Wright, said that a re-examination of AAP treatment recommendations was ongoing even before George Floyd's death in 2020. However, the group intensified its review after doctors were concerned the Black youngsters have been undertreated and overlooked, NBC News reports.

Reviewing the "Race-Based Guidance"

The influential academy has been reviewing and updating its outdated advice. Wright said it is committed to scrutinizing the "entire catalog" that includes the guidelines, educational materials, newsletter articles, and textbooks.

He added that the AAP is more rigorous in assessing the risk for disease and health outcomes, noting that they have to hold themselves accountable.

Other major doctor groups made the same pledges in recent years. NPR says the move was spurred by civil rights and social justice movements and scientific studies showing the vital roles social conditions, genetics, and biological factors play in determining health.

Last year, the academy debunked an old guideline calculation based on the unproven data that Black children face lower risks than white kids for urinary infections. Instead, a review showed that the strongest risk factors were prior urinary infections and fevers that last 48 hours.

Wright said that a revision on newborn jaundice guidance, which suggests that races have higher and lower risks, is up for review this summer.

According to Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, head of an academy group on minority health and equity, the new policy would include a history of how frequently clinical aids have come to be: pseudoscience and racism. The aids, she said, have harmed patients. She added that medical professionals should not use the aids as it violates the Hippocratic oath that says not harm.

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Critical Step

Doctors from various medical fields have lauded the move.

Dr. Brittani James, a family medicine doctor and medical director for a Chicago health center, said the academy made a pivotal move. He added that the move is monumental as medical institutions are taking action and not just words.

Dr. Valerie Walker, a specialist in newborn care and health equity at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said the new policy is a "critical step" in reducing racial health disparities.

As per People, Wright said that the academy would ensure health-equity curriculums by working directly with medical schools, academic health systems, schools of medicine, and accrediting bodies.

The AAP is urging other medical institutions and specialty groups to take a similar approach in working towards eliminating racism in medicine.

Heard-Garris said they could not plug up one leak in a pipe full of holes and expect it to be remedied, adding that pediatricians and healthcare providers should find and patch the holes.

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