In August of 2020, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study on an important topic—the huge gap in mortality between white and black newborns. Using data from Florida hospitals stretching from the early 1990s to the mid-2010s, the researchers identified a surprising factor: the race of the doctor who attended to the baby after birth.
Put simply, black babies were less likely to die if they had black doctors, even after accounting for many other factors. If one were to shift 1,000 black newborns from white doctors to black doctors, about one baby would be expected to live who otherwise would have passed away.
The authors inferred that a “racial concordance” effect was saving the lives of many babies, suggested further research to determine “why Black physicians systemically outperform their colleagues when caring for Black newborns” (such as differences in physician practice behavior), and called the findings “an important call to continue the diversification of the medical workforce.” The study received widespread media coverage and was even cited, albeit confusingly, in Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the most important affirmative-action case in years.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the Institute for Family Studies
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Robert VerBruggen is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here. George J. Borjas is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Based off a recent report.
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