Hot Topics: Health Disparities

Blog Posts (35)

September 14, 2016

Fordham’s Dr. Elizabeth Yuko Address Ethics of Web Self-Diagnoses

Millions of people use websites like WebMD every day to gain insight on a range of medical issues from cancer to mental health. This practice, or “cyberchondria,” is a new digital phenomenon that has resulted from online databases of free, … Continue reading →
September 9, 2016

Medical Training for Transgender Patients Needs to Include Sensitivity to Social Stigmas for both Gender and Sexual Orientation

The recently published article on doctor’s lack of expertise in treating transgender patients in The Guardian is an important step forward in highlighting current disparities in healthcare services for this population.  The study, based on interviews with sample of 23 physicians and … Continue reading →
September 8, 2016

Fordham RETI Fellow Addresses Stigma for HIV-Positive Gay and Bisexual Men

The minority stress theory suggests that health disparities experienced by gay and bisexual men (GBM) and other sexual minorities can be explained in terms of stigma-related stressors such as discrimination at work, school, religious institutions, communities and families. The unique … Continue reading →
August 30, 2016

Will Research on 10,000 New Yorkers Fuel Future Racial Health Inequality?

By Celia B. Fisher, Ph.D. A 20-year, multi-million dollar study of more than 10,000 New Yorkers scheduled to begin next year claims that it will enable the development of theories, therapeutics, and policies to improve the health and quality of … Continue reading →
August 11, 2016

RETI Fellow Examines Intersectional Stigma for HIV-Positive African American Women

While bearing the disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDs in the US, African American women also face multilevel stigma at social, community and institutional levels, which is exacerbated by their HIV-positive status. Fordham University Center for Ethics Education HIV and Drug Abuse … Continue reading →
July 13, 2016

Where’s the Social Justice?

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

Picking up a newspaper or clicking to your favorite news site could lead one to believe that the U.S.…

June 17, 2016

Best intentions, worst outcomes: Ethical and legal challenges for international research involving sex workers

Central America hosts a thriving sex work industry that is a key source and transit region for sex trafficking and undocumented migrants engaged in sex work. Sex workers – particularly those who are migrant – are at high risk for … Continue reading →
June 1, 2016

Should we medicate healthy children to fight social inequality?

by Sebastian Sattler, PhD

A proposed solution seeks a quick fix, without tackling the deep roots of the problem.

It’s a statistic that seems almost unbelievable: the richest one percent now has more wealth than the rest of the world combined, according to an Oxfam report.…

May 25, 2016

The Potential for Infrastructure Benefits and the Responsiveness Requirement

by David Wendler, PhD

The distribution of resources around the globe is characterized by staggering inequalities and inequities, with the result that individuals in lower income countries have greater disease burden and shorter lives than individuals in high-income countries.…

May 4, 2016

Inefficient pain management for black patients shows that there is a fine line between ‘inhumane’ and ‘superhuman’

by Keisha Ray, Ph.D.

It’s well known that in America there are great disparities in health, access to health care, and health care outcomes between black people and white people, with black people, on average, faring much worse than white people.…

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Published Articles (7)

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 16 Issue 6 - Jun 2016

Clinical Trials Infrastructure as a Quality Improvement Intervention in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Avram Denburg, Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo & Steven Joffe

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 16 Issue 6 - Jun 2016

The Potential for Infrastructure Benefits and the Responsiveness Requirement David Wendler

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 15 Issue 3 - Mar 2015

The Social Determinants of Health: Why Should We Care? Adina Preda & Kristin Voigt

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 14 Issue 7 - Jul 2014

The Principle of Equivalence Reconsidered: Assessing the Relevance of the Principle of Equivalence in Prison Medicine Fabrice Jotterand & Tenzin Wangmo

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 14 Issue 7 - Jul 2014

Observations on the Nature and Extent of Injustice in the American Prison System Ben A. Rich

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 14 Issue 5 - May 2014

Ethical Conditions for Transnational Gestational Surrogacy in Asia Darryl Macer

American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 14 Issue 2 - Feb 2014

Ethical Review of Health Systems Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Conceptual Exploration Adnan A. Hyder, Abbas Rattani, Carleigh Krubiner, Abdulgafoor M. Bachani & Nhan T. Tran

News (86)

September 23, 2016 8:00 am

Researchers Confront an Epidemic of Loneliness (NY Times)

The woman on the other end of the phone spoke lightheartedly of spring and of her 81st birthday the previous week. “Who did you celebrate with, Beryl?” asked Alison, whose job was to offer a kind ear. “No one, I…” And with that, Beryl’s cheer turned to despair.

August 24, 2016 8:10 am

How Japan Is Dealing With Impacts Of Supporting The Oldest Population In The World (NPR)

Nearly 27 percent of the people in the country are 65 or older. NPR’s Ina Jaffe visited Japan and tells Rachel Martin what she learned about why the population is aging.

August 22, 2016 8:00 am

Justice Department says it will end use of private prisons (Washington Post)

The Justice Department plans to end its use of private prisons after officials concluded the facilities are both less safe and less effective at providing correctional services than those run by the government.

July 25, 2016 5:04 am

The HIV Trap: A Woman's Lack Of Control (NPR)

When you’re pregnant, going to the doctors can be exciting. You get to find out if you’re having a boy or a girl. Maybe hear the baby’s heart beat. But in southern Africa, many women find out something else.

July 19, 2016 8:26 am

Medicine is failing obese people (Vox)

Watching a person die from cardiac arrest in an intensive care unit is devastating. It’s especially so when the person is a woman in her 40s who has been smothered to death by her own weight — and we doctors can do nothing to save her.

July 13, 2016 8:05 am

Red Tape Leaves Some Low-Income Toddlers Without Health Insurance (NPR)

Many babies born to mothers who are covered by Medicaid are automatically eligible for that health insurance coverage during their first year of life. In a handful of states, the same is true for babies born to women covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

July 6, 2016 8:05 am

Few Young Doctors Are Training To Care For U.S. Elderly (NPR)

At Edgewood Summit retirement community in Charleston, W.Va., 93-year-old Mary Mullens is waxing eloquent about her geriatrician, Dr. Todd Goldberg. “He’s sure got a lot to do,” she says, “and does it so well.” West Virginia has the third oldest population in the nation, right behind Maine and Florida. But Goldberg is one of only 36 geriatricians in the state.

June 28, 2016 8:31 am

End-Of-Life Care Better For Patients With Cancer, Dementia: Study Finds (Kaiser Health News)

A new study offers surprising findings about end-of-life care — specifically, physicians tend to be more likely to accommodate the advanced-care wishes of patients with cancer or dementia than renal disease, congestive heart failure, pulmonary disease or frailty.

June 27, 2016 8:35 am

New data shows blood lead levels spiked in children in Flint, Mich. (Washington Post)

The ill-fated decision two years ago to switch drinking-water sources in Flint, Mich., resulted in a sudden spike in the number of young children with elevated blood lead levels, according to data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

May 27, 2016 5:54 am

Cancer deaths rose during the recession. But why? (Washington Post)

Wealthy countries experienced a small uptick in cancer deaths during the global economic crisis, according to a new study — an estimated 260,000 excess deaths between 2008 and 2010.

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