01 | 20 | 2008 Posted By Regan Zambri & Long
Comments / Questions (0)
print this article

Non-White Patients Less Likely to Receive Strong Pain Relievers in Emergency Rooms: New Study

Black and Hispanic patients who make pain-related ER visits are significantly less likely than white patients to receive strong opiate pain medication, according to new research published in the most recent edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The study analyzed treatments prescribed during more than 150,000 pain-related ER visits in U.S. hospitals between the years of 1993 and 2005.  According to research data, 23% of black patients and 24% of Hispanic patients received opiod pain medications to alleviate their pain during ER visits.  In comparison, 31% of white patients received those opiod pain medications. 

Opiod drugs are narcotic pain relievers prescribed to patients with moderate to severe pain.  Among ER patients with compaints of pain, the prescription of narcotic pain relievers increased overall from 23% to 37% between the years of 1993 and 2005.  That trend noticably accelerated in 2001, when The Joint Commission (a hospital accrediting agency) initiated a campaign to improve pain control efforts in U.S. hospitals. 

Though the study did not conclude why non-whites were less likely to receive opioids, authors of the study suggest that racial and/or ethnic bias is a significant factor.  Other findings from the study include:

  • "While the use of opioids increased overall between 1993 and 2005, the differences in use between racial and ethnic groups did not diminish. In 2005, the last year of the survey, 40 percent of whites in pain received opioids; 32 percent of all others received the drugs.
  • Differences in prescribing between whites and non-whites were greater among people with the worst pain. Among patients in severe pain, opioids were prescribed to 52 percent of whites, 42 percent of Hispanics and 39 percent of blacks.
  • Blacks were prescribed opioids at lower rates than other groups for almost every type of pain-related emergency department visit, including back pain (33 percent for blacks versus 48 percent for whites), headache (22 percent versus 35 percent) and abdominal pain (20 percent versus 32 percent).
  • Opioids were prescribed less often for blacks than whites for kidney stones (56 percent to 72 percent) and long bone fractures (45 percent to 52 percent).
  • Non-opioid pain relievers, such as acetaminophen (sold as Tylenol), were prescribed more for non-whites (36 percent) than whites (26 percent).
  • Opioid prescribing rates were particularly low for black and Hispanic children; blacks in government-owned, non-federal hospitals; uninsured patients; and among all non-white patients in hospitals in the Northeast."

    • Previously on the DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog, we have posted articles related to:

    For information about your legal rights, please click here or call the law firm of Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030. 

    Post A Comment / Question






    Remember personal info?