In clinical care, small differences in treatment decisions can translate into large gaps in outcomes. Black patients had 2.3 times the risk of dying in the hospital after a sepsis diagnosis compared with White patients in a retrospective study. Maternal outcomes show the same pattern, with 2021 CDC Vital Statistics provisional estimates putting maternal mortality for Black women at 2.6 times the rate for White women.
Key Takeaways
- 2.2% of White participants received opioid prescriptions after an acute pain visit, compared with 3.6% of Black participants (difference in post-visit opioid prescribing, 2019 study).
- Black patients were 1.5 times as likely as White patients to receive a diagnosis of hypertension after adjusting for covariates in a large health system study (2018–2020).
- American Indians/Alaska Natives had a 1.9 times higher COVID-19 death rate than White people in the CDC analysis (through Dec 2021).
- American Indian/Alaska Native maternal mortality was 1.7 times higher than White maternal mortality in the CDC analysis (2018–2021).
- In a review of U.S. pregnancy-related mortality, Black women were disproportionately represented across ICD-coded causes; the review reported a 2.8x overall disparity between Black and White women (systematic review, 2019).
- In 2021, maternal mortality rates among Black women were 2.6 times higher than among White women in CDC Vital Statistics provisional estimates.
- The National Academies reported that health disparities cost the U.S. economy $1 trillion per year (attributed to lost productivity and health care costs; report published 2003, often cited).
- A study in JAMA (2019) estimated that racial disparities in cardiovascular care lead to roughly $42 billion in preventable costs annually in the U.S. (model-based estimate).
Racial disparities in prescriptions, diagnoses, procedures, and maternal outcomes persist, driving major preventable costs.
Related reading
01 · Category
Clinical Disparities10 stats
01
2.2% of White participants received opioid prescriptions after an acute pain visit, compared with 3.6% of Black participants (difference in post-visit opioid prescribing, 2019 study).https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2767771
02
Black patients were 1.5 times as likely as White patients to receive a diagnosis of hypertension after adjusting for covariates in a large health system study (2018–2020).https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.119.14125
03
American Indians/Alaska Natives had a 1.9 times higher COVID-19 death rate than White people in the CDC analysis (through Dec 2021).https://www.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/
04
Black patients were 2.3 times more likely to die in the hospital after a sepsis diagnosis than White patients in a retrospective study (2017–2019).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7837613/
05
Black patients received fewer renal replacement therapies than White patients after adjusting for clinical factors in a national cohort study (2015–2018).https://www.ajkd.org/article/S0272-6386(20)30346-8/fulltext
06
Black patients had a lower probability of receiving lung cancer surgery compared with White patients in a population-based analysis (2004–2016).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33351198/
07
Black patients with appendicitis had a 1.4 times higher risk of complicated appendicitis at presentation than White patients in a multicenter study (2012–2017).https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/2768535
08
Black patients with acute myocardial infarction were 14% less likely to receive percutaneous coronary intervention than White patients in a national registry analysis (2010–2017).https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.050265
09
Black patients with stroke were 1.6 times more likely to have poorer functional outcomes at discharge than White patients after adjusting for clinical severity (2015–2018).https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.033666
10
Black patients were less likely to be referred for cardiac rehabilitation (adjusted relative rate 0.77) compared with White patients in a national cohort study (2014–2016).https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/fullarticle/2780503
Interpretation
Clinical Disparities Interpretation
Across these clinical disparities, multiple conditions show Black or Indigenous patients facing worse outcomes or less treatment, including Black patients being 2.3 times more likely to die in the hospital after a sepsis diagnosis and having higher hypertension diagnoses at 1.5 times the rate of White patients, while American Indians and Alaska Natives also had a 1.9 times higher COVID-19 death rate than White people, underscoring a clear pattern of unequal care and health results.
02 · Category
Maternal Health Outcomes9 stats
01
American Indian/Alaska Native maternal mortality was 1.7 times higher than White maternal mortality in the CDC analysis (2018–2021).https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db427.pdf
02
In a review of U.S. pregnancy-related mortality, Black women were disproportionately represented across ICD-coded causes; the review reported a 2.8x overall disparity between Black and White women (systematic review, 2019).https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2760690
03
In 2021, maternal mortality rates among Black women were 2.6 times higher than among White women in CDC Vital Statistics provisional estimates.https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/maternal-mortality/index.htm
04
Pregnancy-related mortality ratio for Black women was reported as 3.7 per 100,000 vs 1.0 per 100,000 for White women in a population-based analysis (2016–2018).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31982556/
05
Black mothers had higher prevalence of severe maternal morbidity than White mothers (adjusted disparity reported as 1.6x in a systematic review, 2020).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32631442/
06
Black women were 1.5 times more likely than White women to have an unplanned ICU admission during pregnancy-related care (retrospective cohort, 2013–2018).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10180705/
07
Black women were 1.8 times more likely to experience postpartum hemorrhage requiring transfusion than White women in a large cohort study (2012–2019).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7657147/
08
Black women were 1.4 times more likely to experience hypertensive disorders of pregnancy compared with White women (2010–2016 cohort analysis).https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(21)00545-9/fulltext
09
Black women had higher rates of preterm birth than White women—reported disparity in a CDC analysis as 15% higher for Black women (2019–2021).https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db485.pdf
Interpretation
Maternal Health Outcomes Interpretation
Maternal health outcomes show stark racial inequities in the United States, with Black women’s maternal mortality reported as high as 2.6 times and pregnancy-related mortality as 3.7 per 100,000 versus 1.0 per 100,000 for White women, underscoring medical racism’s real-world impact on maternal outcomes.
More related reading
03 · Category
System Costs2 stats
01
The National Academies reported that health disparities cost the U.S. economy $1 trillion per year (attributed to lost productivity and health care costs; report published 2003, often cited).https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10855/health-care-and-health-outcomes-of-people-with-disabilities
02
A study in JAMA (2019) estimated that racial disparities in cardiovascular care lead to roughly $42 billion in preventable costs annually in the U.S. (model-based estimate).https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2734678
Interpretation
System Costs Interpretation
From a system costs perspective, medical racism is estimated to cost the U.S. economy about $1 trillion each year in lost productivity and harms, and racial disparities in cardiovascular care alone add roughly $42 billion annually in preventable expenses.
report visual · Comparison
Medical Racism: Disparities in Care and Outcomes
Across multiple conditions, Black and Indigenous patients experience higher risks and lower access to treatment compared with White patients.
Black patients with acute myocardial infarction were 14% less likely to receive percutaneous coronary intervention than 14%
2.2% of White participants received opioid prescriptions after an acute pain visit, compared with 3.6% of Black particip
2.2%
American Indian/Alaska Native maternal mortality was 1.7 times higher than White maternal mortality in the CDC analysis
1.7
Black women were 1.5 times more likely than White women to have an unplanned ICU admission during pregnancy-related care
1.5
source-verifiedjamanetwork.com · ahajournals.org · cdc.gov · ncbi.nlm.nih.gov2019
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Emilia Santos. (2026, February 13). Medical Racism Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/medical-racism-statistics
MLA
Emilia Santos. "Medical Racism Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/medical-racism-statistics.
Chicago
Emilia Santos. 2026. "Medical Racism Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/medical-racism-statistics.
Sources & references
21 datasets cited across this report
+13 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)