No, medical science is supposed to be objective. Does the patient have cancer? Yes/No? There are only two options. Ramifications are will the patient die and is there a treatment?We wish to remind fellow physicians that medical science has never been objective. It has never existed in a vacuum; there have and will always be social, political and legal ramifications of our work.
Then there is:
Did the patient die from the gunshot wound to the head during a carjacking at a gas station? How does the fact that the patient worked as a receptionist at a medical clinic for $10.25/hour alter the cause of death? The patient died because they were a receptionist??Medicine requires inclusion of the social context of disease in order to uphold its sacred oath of doing no harm. If we focus only on molecular pathways and neglect to articulate the role of structural inequities—of racism—in our country, our reports on the causes of death and injury in our patients will erase the roles of their oppressors.
I don't understand this SA article at all. Politicians, lawyers, activists always spin the truth, and that will never change. So, now medical science is going to render medical judgments in light of people's social, racial, economic context??