Black infants more likely to die from errors

Black infants were at greater risk of dying from medical errors than white infants, a study found. Published this week in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Journal of Patient Safety, the study uses Centers for Disease Control and Prevention datasets from 1968 to 2015 on medical errors and car accidents. The authors found black infants were no more likely to die in car accidents than white infants. They posit the absence of care inequities provided following car accidents may reflect clinician and implicit bias when caring for Black infants in routine, non-emergency medical treatment. They note Black infants are more likely to be poorer and receive worse care. Furthermore, poorer patients concerned about high care costs may delay treatment. (AHRQ Journal of Patient Safety article, 3/13/24)