Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health have conducted a study which shows that African Americans suffering from depression are less likely than Caucasian patients to receive antidepressant drugs. The study also found that Medicare and Medicaid patients were less likely to receive the latest antidepressant drugs.
The results showed that for patients with a major depressive disorder, Whites were 1.52 times as likely as Blacks to be prescribed antidepressant drugs. Patients on Medicaid, the federal healthcare program for low-income Americans, were 38 percent less likely to receive antidepressant drugs. Medicaid patients were 61 percent less likely to be prescribed with the latest, state-of-the-art antidepressants.
The research was published online on the website of the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine.
Recent studies indicate antidepressant drugs are problematic, cause more harm than good. Racism in this instance has positive outcome.