CHICAGO – American Medical Association (AMA) CEO James L. Madara, MD, today made the following statement in a recent podcast and tweet published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA):
“The AMA House of Delegates approved a policy stating that racism is structural, systemic, cultural and interpersonal and we are deeply disturbed – and irritated – by a recent JAMA podcast that questioned the existence of structural racism and the affiliated tweet that promoted the podcast and declared ‘no doctor is racist, so how can there be structural racism in healthcare?’ JAMA has editorial independence from AMA, but this tweet and podcast are inconsistent with AMA’s policies and views and I am concerned and acknowledge the damage they have caused. Structural racism in health and in our society exists and it is the responsibility of all of us to fix it. “
Background:
In June 2020, the AMA Board of Trustees pledged to take steps to address systemic racism and police brutality.
AMA’s policy also explicitly recognizes the role of racism in perpetuating health inequities and inciting harm against historically marginalized communities and society as a whole. Specifically, the policy approved at the November 2020 Special Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates recognizes racism in its systemic, cultural, interpersonal and other forms as a serious threat to public health, the advancement of health equity and a barrier to ownership medical care. Makes it clear that a proactive approach to preventing, or identifying and eliminating racism is crucial, especially considering that studies show that historically marginalized populations in the US have a shorter life expectancy, greater burden of physical and mental illness, earlier onset and progression disease, greater maternity and infant mortality, and less access to health care.
The policy describes the various forms of racism as follows:
- Systemic racism: structural and legalized system that results in differentiated access to goods and services, including health services.
- Cultural Racism: negative and harmful racial stereotypes portrayed in culturally shared media and experiences.
- Interpersonal racism: implicit and explicit racial prejudice, including explicitly expressed racist beliefs and racist attitudes and actions implicitly based on or resulting from these prejudices.
In February 2021, AMA’s CEO, James L. Madara, MD, published a point of view recognizing that decisions made by AMA leaders in the past contributed to a health system plagued by inequities.