CHICAGO – The American Medical Association (AMA), CEO, James L. Madara, Managing Director, made the following statement today about a recent podcast and tweet published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA):
‘The AMA House of Representatives has adopted policies that racism is structural, systemic, cultural and interpersonal and that we are deeply upset and angry by a recent JAMA podcast questioning the existence of structural racism and the affiliate tweet that the podcast promoted and declared. “no doctor is racist, so how can there be structural racism in health care?” JAMA has editorial independence from AMA, but this tweet and podcast are not in line with AMA’s policies and views, and I am concerned about and acknowledge the harm it has caused. Structural racism exists in health care and in our society and it is up to us all to fix it. ”
Background:
In June 2020, the Board of Trustees acted to confront systematic racism and police brutality.
AMA policy also explicitly recognizes the role of racism in perpetuating health inequalities and inciting harm to historically marginalized communities and society as a whole. The policy adopted at the special meeting of the AMA House of Representatives in November 2020 specifically recognizes racism in its systemic, cultural, interpersonal and other forms as a serious threat to public health, to the promotion of health equity, and as an obstacle to medical care. This makes it clear that a proactive approach to preventing, or identifying and eliminating racism is crucial, especially when one considers that studies show that historically marginalized populations in the US have shorter lifespans, a greater physical and mental disease burden, earlier onset and aggressive disease progression, higher maternal and child mortality, and less access to health care.
The policy describes the different forms of racism as follows:
- Systemic racism: structured and legalized system leading to differential access to goods and services, including health care services.
- Cultural racism: negative and harmful racial stereotypes portrayed in culturally shared media and experiences.
- Interpersonal racism: implicit and explicit racial prejudice, including explicit racist beliefs and implicit racist attitudes and actions based on or arising from these prejudices.
In February 2021, AMA CEO James L. Madara, managing director, published a statement acknowledging that decisions made by AMA leaders of the past had contributed to a health care system plagued by inequalities.