American Medical Association to Apologize to Black Doctors for Over a Century of Racism

By: Lindsay Tanner, AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) The American Medical Association is issuing a formal apology for more than a century of discriminatory policies that excluded blacks from participating in a group long considered the voice of U.S. doctors.

The apology stems from initiatives at the nation's largest doctors' group to reduce racial disparities in medicine -- from the paltry number of black physicians to the disproportionate burden of disease among blacks and other minorities.

It comes more than 40 years after AMA delegates denounced policies at state and local medical societies dating to the 1800s that barred blacks. For decades, AMA delegates resisted efforts to get them to speak out forcefully against discrimination or to condemn the smaller medical groups that historically have had a big role in shaping AMA policy.

American Medical Association to Apologize to Black Doctors for Over a Century of Racism....