Pain relief in US emergency rooms is related to patients' race

Patients from ethnic minorities seen in emergency rooms are relatively undertreated for pain, according to a new study (Annals of Emergency Medicine 2000;35:11-6, 77-81).

Doctors at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, conducted a retrospective analysis of the medical charts of 217 patients who had presented with long bone fractures to a single urban emergency department over 40 months.

Of the total, 127 patients were black and 90 were white. The patients had similar injuries and similar complaints of pain. Overall, 43%of the black patients received no pain medication whereas only …