A study by the University of California-Los Angeles claims that African-American HIV patients treated by white doctors receive life-saving HIV medication later than those who have Black physicians, according to 365Gay.com.
The researchers found that African-American patients treated by white doctors receive their HIV medications nearly four months later than African-American patients being treated by African-American doctors. Moreover, the study confirms the differences are not because of patient’s income levels, years of education, or insurance coverage. On the doctors’ part, the knowledge, specialty, degree of training and years of experience did not affect the results.
The clinical implications of the findings are that delay in effective treatment could result in more deaths for African-American patients. The researchers conclude that policy changes boosting the number of African-American physicians are ‘imperative.’ The study is published in the November issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.