"Survey Finds Anti-Minority AIDS Care Bias"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Survey Finds Anti-Minority AIDS Care Bias"

Los Angeles Times (12/21/91), P. B1
Harris, Scott

Abstract: Physicians who treat patients in minority communities in Los Angeles County are basically less educated on HIV and more apt to turn away patients who are infected with the deadly virus, according to a study sponsored by the Southern California AIDS Education and Training Center. The discovery was discussed Friday at a meeting held by the Los Angeles County Commission on AIDS, and is particularly troublesome because of the increased rate of HIV transmission among minority groups. Dr. Charles E. Lewis, professor of medicine at the UCLA Medical Center and an author of the study, said several Southern California physicians are biased against high-risk groups like homosexuals and intravenous drug users. Lewis added that physicians fear contracting HIV and the prospect that HIV-infected patients could alienate other prospective patients. The survey was conducted on 400 Los Angeles County area primary care physicians. It revealed that foreign medical graduates are more apt to refer patients with HIV to other doctors, who would then serve as primary-care physicians.

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