Minorities Suffer from Unequal Pain Treatment

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America is currently undergoing an epidemic of prescription opioid abuse. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the country, with 47,055 lethal drug overdoses in 2014.

Opioid addiction is driving this problem, with 18,893 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 10,574 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2014. While this problem is rapidly reaching critical levels in the United States, Latinos are being affected at lesser rates than whites.

Researchers say minority patients, including Latinos and African Americans, use opioids at lesser rates. There are numerous possible explanations for this phenomenon, including lack of insurance coverage and a greater reluctance among minorities to take painkillers when they are prescribed. They have also found evidence that racial bias and stereotyping play a part in recognizing and treating pain among minorities.

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“We’ve done a good job documenting that these disparities exist,” said Salimah Meghani, a pain researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. “We have not done a good job doing something about them.”

Studies have found that pharmacies in low-income, largely white neighborhoods were 54 times more likely than those in low-income minority neighborhoods to have adequate supplies of opioids. Minorities do get prescriptions for opioids, and some become addicted. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overdose deaths that involve opioids are increasing across all races and ethnicities.