{"id":2219534,"date":"2024-04-12T15:16:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T19:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/health-equity-why-mass-generals-dei-infused-policy-update-places-infants-at-risk\/"},"modified":"2024-04-12T15:22:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T19:22:50","slug":"health-equity-why-mass-generals-dei-infused-policy-update-places-infants-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/health-equity-why-mass-generals-dei-infused-policy-update-places-infants-at-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Ensuring Fair Treatment in Healthcare: How Mass General&#8217;s Inclusive Policy Changes Could Impact Babies&#8217; Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhealth-equity-why-mass-generals-dei-infused-policy-update-places-infants-at-risk%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2219534&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kim-jong-uns-latest-aggression-should-have-us-rethinking-our-north-korea-policy\/\" title=\"Reconsidering North Korea Policy after Kim Jong Un's Recent Aggression\">recent policy shift<\/a> by\u2064 Mass General Brigham \u200cto <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/portland-public-schools-must-now-consider-race-gender-identity-when-disciplining-students\/\" title=\"Portland Public Schools must now take into account race and gender identity when disciplining students\">address racial \u2063disparities<\/a> in healthcare, the decision to stop reporting abuse in cases of fetal \u2063drug exposure raises concerns about marginalized patient care.\u200b The move potentially hinders\u200d interventions for\u200b at-risk infants and questions the balance between \u2064historical injustices and current risks in \u2062healthcare equity initiatives. The recent policy change by Mass General Brigham aims\u200d to tackle racial disparities in healthcare but halting abuse reporting in cases of fetal drug exposure \u2062raises worries about care for marginalized patients. It \u200cmay impede \u2064interventions for vulnerable infants, prompting a debate \u200bon balancing historical\u2064 injustices with current risks in healthcare equity efforts.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s never a good time to be a baby who\u2019s been exposed to drugs. But the brilliant antiracist minds at Mass General Brigham have somehow found a way to make that situation even more risky. Early this month, the Massachusetts healthcare network announced its latest gambit in the fight against racial disparity in medicine: no longer reporting instances of abuse in cases of fetal drug exposure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The rationale for this baffling new policy? The DEI-rich language of \u2018health equity.\u2019 As per Mass General\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.massgeneralbrigham.org\/en\/about\/newsroom\/press-releases\/updating-system-policies-perinatal-testing\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">announcement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u201cBlack pregnant people are more likely to be drug tested and to be reported to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-threatens-texas-after-gov-abbott-calls-pro-trans-procedures-for-minors-child-abuse\/\" title=\"Biden Threatens Texas After Gov Abbott Calls Pro-Trans Procedures for Minors \u201cChild Abuse\u201d\">child welfare systems<\/a> than white pregnant people.\u201d The decision was further portrayed as \u201cthe latest step in our efforts to address long-standing inequities in substance use disorder care.\u201d But will it?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.massgeneralbrigham.org\/en\/about\/newsroom\/press-releases\/updating-system-policies-perinatal-testing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">updated policy<\/a> reads:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">First, the new policy requires written consent for toxicology testing of any pregnant individual or infant outside of emergent situations. At the same time, it limits toxicology testing to circumstances where results will change the medical management of the pregnant person or infant.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The policy also notes that an abuse\/neglect report to state child welfare agencies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire after delivery should be filed only if there is reasonable cause to believe that the infant is suffering or at imminent risk of suffering physical or emotional injury and that \u2018substance exposure\u2019 alone, including treatment with methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, does not require a report of abuse or neglect in the absence of protective concerns for the infant.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Under Brigham\u2019s no-report policies, black babies exposed to drugs can be passed over for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-medical-establishments-racist-classist-argument-for-abortion\/\" title=\"Medical establishment supports abortion based on racism and classism.\">potentially life-saving care<\/a> if their mothers refuse help. How is erecting new barriers to treatment for these children a step toward any serious concept of justice?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As psychiatrist Sally Satel <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/mass-general-brigham-antiracism-maternity\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">notes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the new policy would reduce not only the amount of reporting involved in the Boston system, but strip healthcare providers of the ability to meaningfully intervene in cases where a baby\u2019s health appears compromised.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is hardly the first time Brigham\u2019s chosen to mix racial politicking with its patient care. The Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital, as part of its United Against Racism campaign, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brighamandwomens.org\/about-bwh\/newsroom\/addressing-heart-admission-disparities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">recently introduced<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  a program where patient admissions to cardiac units would weigh the race of the patient, as a supposed \u2018righting of the scale\u2019 against historic health disparities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let\u2019s be clear here: these practices, while perhaps palatable to the modern advocates of equity, cannot be conscionable to modern advocates of justice. Brigham has made its stand: prioritizing marginalized patient populations in a bid to right historical wrongs. Yet the obvious problem remains: Such policies attempt to right historical wrongs by risking modern ones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The system may purport to advance \u2018health equity,\u2019 but it runs a real risk of hurting innocent children. We must evaluate these systems based on what they do, not merely on what they purport to do. To do otherwise is to adopt an uncritical perspective on equity that cedes legitimacy to unserious and dangerous solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We are sometimes asked, in the name of charity and good faith, to pretend that arguments over DEI and equity-based policies are low-stakes questions. We\u2019re told that the real diversity argument is between \u201cvalidating the feelings and lived experience of people of color\u201d or \u201cpropping up white supremacy with our complicit silence.\u201d I\u2019ve <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/rlo.acton.org\/archives\/124960-the-strange-death-of-dei.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">written<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2023\/12\/14\/willour-dei-oklahoma-universities-nikole-hannah-jones-racism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">at<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/3-things-my-future-children-need-to-know-about-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">length<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  about how this isn\u2019t the case, but the actions and results of the DEI movement speak far louder than its critics\u2019 most pointed words.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For a further example, let\u2019s take a closer look at Brigham\u2019s cardiology policy. Brigham alerted physicians when a black or \u201cLatinx\u201d patient presented with heart failure to \u201ceducate the clinician about the fact that, historically, this population has had inequitable access to specialized cardiology care and offer a recommendation to consider changing admission.\u201d It\u2019s not an override of a clinician\u2019s judgment or even a treatment prescription, meaning that it\u2019s actually a relatively impotent policy in the aggregate. By any modern standard of DEI, it doesn\u2019t even qualify as intersectional. But that\u2019s actually the point \u2014 the policies that work aren\u2019t the ones being dreamed up for \u2018health equity\u2019 brownie points.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Intersectionality, particularly in medicine, only works at the most basic level: the differentiation of the individual patient. The only morally serious option is for healthcare providers to evaluate patients based on individual history and symptoms \u2014 and avoid the kind of DEI-esque language of \u2018health equity\u2019 that makes observers and patients alike start raising questions about what forces are actually driving the boat over at Mass General Brigham.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That practical and rhetorical vision isn\u2019t what modern DEI proponents want you to sign up for. Accepting their view of equity, in this case, means systems that risk passing over treatment for innocent children. Is that equity? It\u2019s certainly not equality, it\u2019s certainly not justice, and it\u2019s not what anyone really wants for the future of American healthcare: we can\u2019t validate people\u2019s lived experiences if they die as babies in a maternity ward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Isaac Willour is an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-things-my-future-children-need-to-know-about-race\/\" title=\"3 Essential Lessons on Race for My Future Kids\">award-winning journalist focusing<\/a> on race, culture, and American conservatism, as well as a corporate relations analyst at Bowyer Research. His work on race &#038; DEI has been featured at outlets including National Review, USA Today, C-SPAN, and the Daily Wire. He is a member of the Young Voices contributor program, and can be found on Twitter <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IsaacWillour\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">@IsaacWillour<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Being a drug-exposed baby is always tough. Mass General Brigham, known for its antiracist efforts, unveiled a move that raises risks further. The healthcare network&#8217;s recent initiative to combat racial disparities includes prohibiting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2902,"featured_media":2219535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1221023300.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2219534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1221023300.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2902"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2219534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2219535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2219534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2219534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2219534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}