“Misuse of Race in Medical Diagnosis” – Saathvika Diviti

In “Misuse of Race in Medical Diagnosis”, author Richard Garcia highlights the complexity of using race to diagnose medical conditions. Just as Giovanna pointed out in her post, there are many instances of misdiagnosis by attributing too much, and sometimes too little, credit to race. Garcia establishes this dilemma of race by first explaining the cases in which a patient’s race can and should influence a doctor’s thinking about possible diagnoses. He provides many examples to illustrate this point: a black boy might have sickle cell anemia while a southeast asian girl might have thalassemia. Statistically, there have been medical diagnoses proven for increased susceptibility among certain populations more so than others. However, we are quick to assign the cause of this to race. But if race is not biological, how do we know the impact it has on biological conditions? Furthermore, how do you truly determine someone’s race — especially if some have heritages rooted in many different cultures? An example that stood out to me was that of the 8-year old black girl with cystic fibrosis (CF). She had countless doctors over the years who simply dismissed her as “black girl with fever/cough” or “black girl with pneumonia.” She wasn’t diagnosed until one radiologist, who didn’t see her face to face, recognized her CF. Furthermore, Garcia’s description of his daughter in particular also provoked my thoughts. Although she is of Mexican and African descent, Garcia’s daughter has blonde hair, green eyes, and pale skin. Without knowledge of her parents’ heritage, one would assume, by looks alone, that she is white. How does genetic risk change for people like her, whose “racial ancestry defies geography and time”? Garcia’s article was eye opening in how it revealed the importance of recognizing the impact of race and medicine, but not relying on it for diagnoses.