An investigation prompted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will look into maltreatment toward Black mothers giving birth at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The death of Kara Dixon Johnson, who died after hemorrhaging following a C-section, sparked the inquiry. Her widowed husband sued the hospital, ultimately settling with them after alleging its negligence toward her, especially as a Black patient, led to her untimely passing.
After filing his original suit, Johnson filed again in 2022, this time a civil rights lawsuit, on the grounds that his wife was not well taken care of due to her race, leading to another settlement.
Calls of racism within the healthcare system, specifically at the hospital, led the Office of Civil Rights within the DOH to open a federal investigation.
“Specifically, OCR is aware of allegations that Black women are provided a standard of care below what is provided to other women who are not Black when receiving healthcare services related to labor and delivery,” Director Melanie Fontes Rainer shared.
The issue is a federal concern as Cedars-Sinai receives funding from the government for its operations, so the problem lies in whether they are infringing upon federally mandated civil rights laws in their care toward patients of diverse backgrounds.
However, Cedars-Sinai insists it is combating the issues perpetuating Black maternal health disparities. Telling the Los Angeles Times, “Cedars-Sinai clinicians, leaders, and researchers have long been concerned with national disparities in Black maternal health, and we are proud of the work we’ve done (and continue to do) to address these issues in Los Angeles as well as at the state and national levels.”
The work mentioned is holding partnerships with, and financial commitments to, nonprofits dedicated to uplifting Black mothers and their children within the Los Angeles community and conducting clinical studies on ways to improve their health through medical care.
However, the Black maternal mortality rate is still significantly higher than that of other races and more than double the rate for white women. In the state itself, which Cedars-Sinai also partners with, is the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, an organization dedicated to connecting state agencies with health provider institutions and associations to curate solutions to combat issues surrounding pregnancy and giving birth.
Despite its list of efforts, the investigation is still ongoing to ensure that, in practice, the hospital is providing the same standard of care to all, especially when the disproportionate Black maternal mortality rate continues on.
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