A Directory Of US-Based Black Physicians And Dentists Has Been Sued For Not Accepting A White Doctor – AfroTech

A directory that helps people connect patients to Black doctors is being sued.

Find A Black Doctor is an online directory founded by Dina D. Strachan, a graduate of Harvard University and Yale School of Medicine, and a board-certified dermatologist. According to its website, its directory features U.S.-based Black physicians and dentists in active clinical practice. It is driven by a mission to provide patients in the Black community with access, education, and resources to improve health outcomes.

According to a statement on Find A Black Doctor’s website, “Having access to Black doctors has been shown to improve health outcomes — particularly for Black men.” The American Medical Association reports that African Americans make up approximately 13% of the U.S. population, but are only 5% of practicing physicians. “This underrepresentation adds a challenge to potential patients seeking a physician of this kind. Just like women have been shown to prefer access to female physicians, some African American patients prefer to have a Black doctor,” reads the statement on Find A Black Doctor’s website.

That directory, launched in 2005, was taken down in 2008 and relaunched in 2019, as Strachan recognized a need for it among patients. Now the directory is being sued by Do No Harm, a nationwide, grassroots, 501(c)(3) membership organization that consists of more than 50,000 health care professionals, students, patients, and policymakers, the lawsuit mentions. Do No Harm is dedicated to “keeping identity politics out of medical education, research, and clinical practice,” according to its website.

According to a press release, the nonprofit filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that Strachan failed to comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which prohibits racial discrimination in contracting. The lawsuit alleges that the director discriminated against physicians based on race.

Travis Morrell, a Do No Harm member, licensed physician, double-board-certified dermatologist, and dermatopathologist who is white, applied to the directory but was not admitted. He claims he met all the requirements for listing in the directory, except for race.

“Racial discrimination in medicine is unlawful and undermines trust between patients and providers,” said Kurt Miceli, MD, chief medical officer at Do No Harm, according to the press release. “By excluding qualified doctors based solely on their skin color, Find A Black Doctor indefensibly robs some physicians of valuable advertising exposure and deprives patients of the opportunity to discover capable providers without regard to race. The idea that patients have better outcomes when treated by doctors of the same race — known as racial concordance — is a pernicious and debunked myth that only sows distrust in the doctor-patient relationship. Do No Harm remains committed to rooting out all identity-based political programs in medicine.”

The plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that the directory violates the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from excluding doctors based on race or from requesting or considering applicants’ race for the directory.

The plaintiffs are also seeking a permanent injunction for Find A Black Doctor to accept Morrell’s application so that he can be included in the directory, along with awarding compensatory and punitive damages to Dr. Morrell.