Kate,

Thank you for your response. Mine, in turn, could…perhaps should…be longer than it is.

Type II diabetes, obesity, alcoholism, drug addition, etc. are all medical conditions, or certainly conditions having significant medical consequences, as well as social and economic consequences. One could blame “…the healthcare system for its’ failure to meet the needs of all…” those individuals, or groups, as well. The “system” is failing those, too, yes?

To frame the issues, I point out, that in terms of operations research, there is no medical care “system” in the US. The set of entities and individuals comprise a group, but not a system. The distinction is important, IMO, if one is to accurately analyse the problem and propose effective solutions. I do not propose a solution, other than implying an individualistic one; I questioned the explanation that Ms Newman presents.

My argument is not at you state above. I “argue” that health conditions and care are more significant than the causes stated by Newman, which include “racist” doctors. No, I cannot provide any evidence relating to cause.

Newman wrote that “…racial discrimination has been linked to high blood pressure in African-Americans”. Really?!

It is accurate, from what I read, that individuals in the racial group denoted by the term Negro are more likely to have hypertension, sickle cell anaemia, a higher proportion of fast-twitch, long muscle fibers, etc. than are members of other races. (There apparently are racially-differentiated physiological characteristics across our species, including intelligence, BTW, and Caucasians don’t come out on top.) To claim that any one of them, including hypertension, is linked to racial discrimination seems patently absurd. Neuman used the term “discrimination”; perhaps correlation would have been better. However, such sloppiness in either logic or communication casts doubt over the others.

I tire of this discourse and have been appalled by some of the invective it has generated. I leave it, now, totally, writing one opinion, engendered by my world view of individual responsibility for one’s life and decades of parenting. Yes, the medical “field” might have some “…responsibility to work out ways…”, as do, I suggest, churches, communities, charities, and other social collectives. However, I contend that the mother-to-be and the, dare I write, “father” have far, far more such responsibility to do so.

Good bye.