LYRICS: KODAK BLACK LIVES I have also observed potential disparities in pain management. At REDACTED REDACTED Hospitals, I observed situations where white patients were receiving IV pain medications such as Dilaudid while Black patients were not. When I added appropriate pain control for Black patients, those medications were later removed by other physicians when I was off service, and patients and families continued to report uncontrolled pain. This pattern is concerning and should be reviewed. I am requesting that these matters be investigated. I am willing to provide testimony, documentation, and any supporting materials needed. I would also like to provide additional context regarding disparities in pain management that I have observed over the course of my training and practice. During my medical training at The REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED and REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED between 2003 and 2011, patients with sickle cell disease were consistently scrutinized regarding their requests for pain medication. They were frequently characterized as drug-seeking, and this perspective was emphasized by instructors during training. When I later practiced as an attending physician in Chicago, my experience was markedly different. Sickle cell patients were treated with a higher level of trust regarding their pain. When a patient stated that a specific dose of medication such as 2 milligrams or 3 milligrams of Dilaudid every 3 hours was required to control their pain, that information was generally respected and incorporated into treatment plans unless it was clearly unsafe. In contrast, in Ohio, I observed that sickle cell patients were routinely prescribed significantly lower doses, such as 0.5 milligrams or 1 milligram of Dilaudid every 3 hours, regardless of what the patient reported as necessary for adequate pain control. This pattern appeared consistent and did not seem to be individualized based on patient needs. Given that sickle cell disease disproportionately affects Black patients, I am concerned that this may reflect a broader pattern of unequal treatment. I believe this issue warrants careful review to determine whether there are systemic disparities in pain management practices affecting specific patient populations. I respectfully request that these concerns be evaluated as part of a broader review of patient care practices perhaps even jointly by the DOJ and ACLU. Finally, I believe that if UNREDACTED PRESIDENT DONALD J TRUMP addresses this problem, many people would respect him for defending the interests of Black patients. I also want to add important context regarding why the racial disparities I observed in Ohio are especially concerning to me. The first place in Ohio that I lived after leaving the Chicagoland area, where I lived from ages 5 through 10, was Middletown, Ohio. I attended Vail Middle School there, which was an all-Black middle school, and I lived in a townhouse community that was mostly Black residents. Before that, I lived in a townhouse community in Grand Island, New York, near Niagara Falls, where most of the residents were minorities, and my next-door neighbor was Black. In Chicago, I worked primarily on the South Side for many years, and most of my patients were Black. Because of that background, when I observed at REDACTED REDACTED Hospital in REDACTED REDACTED in Columbus, Ohio, that Black patients were not being given IV Dilaudid while white patients were, it was deeply disturbing to me. I observed specific patients where I added IV Dilaudid for Black patients because their pain was not being adequately treated. When I later went off service, those medications would be removed by other physicians, and the patients and family members would continue to complain about uncontrolled pain. I believe this may represent a violation of the civil rights of Black patients in Ohio who are admitted to these facilities. I believe this issue should be investigated by appropriate authorities, including the Attorney General of the United States, because I have specific patients on whom this occurred at REDACTED REDACTED Hospital in REDACTED REDACTED in Columbus, Ohio. I also mention Middletown, Ohio, because I would like these concerns to be brought to the attention of Vice President J.D. Vance. He is from Middletown, and so am I. We both also attended The REDACTED University. I believe he would be deeply concerned by what I was told in Columbus, Ohio, regarding The REDACTED University Medical Center. HOFDOCTOR.COM IV-MEDICAL.COM
