Color Code is STAT’s new podcast raising the alarm on racial inequities in American health care. The show will premiere March 21 and air episodes every other week. Transcripts, photos, and further reading will be available at www.statnews.com.

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As long as there's been a medical system, it's been one that is rife with instances of mistreatment — both on the individual and community levels — that have harmful effects on how Black Americans view the healthcare system. In this episode, we speak with the researchers, doctors, and a patient, who are all trying to repair the relationship between Black people and the medical institution.

Medicine lost the trust of many Black Americans — how can we mend that?

Medicine in America underwent a radical transformation in 1910. It was the year the Flexner Report was published — a document that evaluated the country’s medical schools and called for sweeping change to the entire medical education system. The report’s recommendations ultimately led to the closure of about 75 percent of U.S. medical schools, including five of the then seven Black medical colleges. In the second episode of “Color Code,” we reflect upon the Flexner Report and examine the ripple effects it had on medical education that are still felt today, especially for Black doctors.

How one 1910 report curtailed Black medical education for over a century

Color Code airs every other week but occasionally, we'll bring you some bonus content in the interim.  This week, we wanted to share more of our conversation with Sandra Parham, the Library Executive Director at Meharry Medical College.  Based off her work in the archives, she tells stories about the early Meharry days and the effect the Flexner Report had on the campus.

Bonus: Sandra Parham on Flexner, Meharry, and her return to Nashville

We take a look at the groundswell of antiracism work in medicine and medical education. We will also explore the backlash that these endeavors have received, which span from institutional repercussions to protests from hate groups. 

In this episode, you will hear from Jerrel Catlett and Jennifer Dias, two medical students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who will share their experience developing anti-racist training and curriculum for students. Michelle Morse, the Chief Medical Officer of New York City’s Health Department tells us of how her efforts to raise awareness at Brigham and Women's Hospital were met with hateful messages and protests by Neo Nazis calling her work ‘“anti-white.” We also speak with Aysha Khoury, a physician formerly at Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine who was dismissed following what she says was an antiracist discussion with students in the classroom.

Dismantling medical racism starts in the classroom

In August of 2021, Denise Williams was rushed to Queens Hospital Center in New York City. Williams, a 29-year-old Black woman, had recently given birth and needed treatment for acute postpartum depression. Her family had hoped her stay would be brief, so she could return to be with her newborn, Adalee, and her 3-year-old daughter Avyanna. But two days later, Williams’ mother received a devastating and shocking phone call: Her daughter had died.

"Birthing while Black" is an American crisis

This week in Color Code Bonus Content: more from our conversation with expert Rachel Hardeman on the racial disparities in maternal mortality.  Hardeman is a professor at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health.

Bonus: Rachel Hardeman on the maternal mortality disparities

"Excited delirium” is a controversial term that is used by some to describe a person who experiences an acute, extreme disruption in their behavior and ability to think, and often comes up in relation to people who have died in police custody. To investigate the origins of excited delirium, we turned to my colleague Isabella Cueto, a Sharon Begley science reporting fellow at STAT. She traveled to Miami to learn more about the historical roots the term has in the medical examiner’s office there.

'A city on fire': Miami’s historic influence on deaths in police custody

This week in Color Code Bonus content: A new conversation with Dr. Altaf Saadi and Dr. Brooks Walsh on the current medical understanding of the term "excited delirium." Saadi worked on a recent Physicians for Human Rights report on excited delirium. Walsh is an emergency medicine physician and member of the American College for Emergency Physicians.

Bonus: Two physicians on excited delirium

Artificial intelligence and medical algorithms are deeply intertwined with our modern healthcare system. These technologies mimic the thought processes of doctors to make medical decisions and are designed to help providers determine who needs care. But one big problem with at artificial intelligence is that it very often replicate the biases and blind spots of the humans who create them.

In this episode, we hear from Casey Ross, STAT’s national health tech correspondent, about his reporting on racial bias in AI . Chris Hemphill, the VP for Applied AI & Growth at Actium Health, tells us about the rise of responsible AI in healthcare. Ziad Obermeryer, an emergency medicine physician and researcher at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, walks us through how his team found bias in an algorithm widely used in our healthcare system and an instance where AI was used to correct a health care injustice.

“Racism is America’s oldest algorithm:” How bias creeps into health care AI

For our bonus episode this week, Color Code is bringing you an episode of one of our favorite podcasts: Tradeoffs.  Tradeoffs is a show that tells engaging, emotional stories about the complicated, costly and often counterintuitive world of health care.

Introducing: Tradeoffs

Clinical trials are critical to advancing lifesaving medications and treatments. But the U.S. is falling woefully short in making sure that these trials represent the broader population. In this episode, we speak with STAT cancer reporter Angus Chen, who recently went to Richmond, Va., to report on the efforts of physician Robert Winn, who connects with the local community, fosters relationships, and educates folk about clinical trials. Researcher Jonathan Jackson tells us about the barriers to achieving more diverse clinical trials and what needs to be done to topple them.

Diverse clinical trials: Why aren't we there yet?

Vertus Hardiman wore a wig for more than 70 years. More than a style choice, his hair piece concealed a painful secret — a head ravaged by a raw, open wound that was eating through his scalp and skull. As a child, Hardiman was a victim of irresponsible medical practices that left him with physical and psychological scars for the rest of his life.

Vertus Hardiman and the medical tragedies we must not forget

This year marks the 50th anniversary of an investigation by the Associated Press that revealed to the public how – for four decades – government researchers deceived African Americans who thought they were receiving treatment for syphilis. Here’s a conversation with Dr. Vanessa Northington Gamble, a physician, scholar and activist who led the Legacy Committee of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, which urged the Clinton Administration to issue a Presidential Apology for this atrocity.

Bonus: The Syphilis Study at Tuskegee — 50 Years Later

The second season of Color Code will launch in just under two weeks on May 8.  Episodes will air every other week.  Thanks for listening!

Season 2 of Color Code is coming!

This season, we’re zooming in to the birthplace of American suburbs and the place where host Nick St. Fleur grew up: Long Island, New York.

Suburban communities in the U.S. have a reputation for being largely white, wealthy, and healthy, but the reality is much more complex. In this first episode, we dive into the history and current reality of segregation on Long Island. We speak with Martine Hackett, an expert on suburban public health with a particular focus on Long Island.

Welcome to Long Island

The town of North Bellport on Long Island sits in the shadows of a massive landfill. This predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood also has the lowest life expectancy on Long Island, as well as the second-highest rates of asthma. Environmental activists do not think this is a coincidence, and for decades have waged a battle to shut down the Brookhaven Landfill, which they believe is making their community sick.

A landfill and "a textbook case of environmental racism"

On this bonus episode, we bring you our full conversation with Dr. Robert Bullard, "the father of environmental racism." He was featured on our episode on the Brookhaven Landfill, which looms over the town of North Bellport on Long Island. In this in-depth interview, he talks about the effects of environmental racism and lays out tangible solutions that can help bring justice to Black and Brown communities like North Bellport that have been plagued by waste for far too long.

Bonus: A conversation with the "the father of environmental justice"

We take a look at efforts on Long Island to address racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality.

Long Island mothers face “an injustice made purposefully invisible”

Ahna Red Fox is from the Shinnecock Nation on the eastern end of Long Island. After a traumatic birthing experience, she began her journey as a community-based birth worker. She talked to Nick about her experience.

Bonus: a conversation with an Indigenous birth worker on Long Island

About two dozen communities on Long Island is a food desert, meaning fresh, nutritious groceries are difficult to access. In this episode, we speak with Jon Stepanian, president and CEO of Community Solidarity, and volunteers like Boone who work together to address food insecurity on Long Island. Jessica Rosati, the Chief Program Officer for Long Island Cares Inc, tells us about the state of food insecurity. And Tambra Raye Stevenson, founder and CEO for WANDA: Women Advancing Nutrition Dietetics and Agriculture, provides us with context about how systemic racism impacts the U.S. food system, creating what she refers to as “food apartheid.”

‘Food apartheid’ starves minority neighborhoods on Long Island

"Excited delirium” is a controversial term that is used by some to describe a person who experiences an acute, extreme disruption in their behavior and ability to think, and often comes up in relation to people who have died in police custody. Last season, we turned to my colleague Isabella Cueto, a Sharon Begley science reporting fellow at STAT. She traveled to Miami to learn more about the historical roots the term has in the medical examiner’s office there. We're bringing this episode back today and will return with a new one next time.

Revisiting: "A city on fire"

Wyandanch is a proud, resilient community on Long Island. Like much of the northeastern U.S., it has been impacted by heavy wildfire smoke blowing in from Canada. But particularly distressing for this community is that Wyandanch has some of the highest rates of asthma and the highest rate of pediatric asthma ER visits on Long Island. Asthma is exacerbated by poor air quality, which can be caused by smoke and industrial pollution.

Wildfire pollution widens asthma inequities on Long Island

When the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, Some experts assumed the virus would affect everyone even-handedly, regardless of their race or socioeconomic background. But the reality of Covid proved to be far from the “great equalizer” – Black and brown communities had higher rates of infection and death. Among the factors exacerbating Covid-19’s impact is America’s legacy of racial and economic segregation.

Why Covid-19 wasn’t the ‘great equalizer’

Early geneticists were convinced they could use genetics to reshape society to their ideals and believed that the human race could be improved through selective breeding. An early seat for eugenics in the U.S. was Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island. As the lab’s influence began to extend to the halls of Congress, the Supreme Court, and internationally, Cold Spring Harbor became known as the eugenics capital of the world.

How Long Island became the ‘eugenics capital of the world’

In the final episode of season two, we delve into how housing — and today’s housing crisis — intersects with health care. We also explore how racial discrimination has played a part in causing this crisis, as well as present-day housing segregation on Long Island. We speak with Olivia Winslow, a demographic reporter at Newsday who investigated widespread housing discrimination by real estate agents on Long Island. We also talk with Alina Schnake-Mahl, an assistant professor of health management and policy at Drexel University, who tells us about how housing is health care and what that means in the suburbs — especially during a housing crisis.

Housing is health care

Hosted by award-winning journalist Nicholas St. Fleur, Color Code weaves together stories and experiences of physicians, patients, historians, and other experts to illuminate the history of racism in the health care system and how it has — and continues — to impact people of color and underserved communities.

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