Patients with disabilities often find trouble getting the proper medical care, and new data confirms doctors are biased in their care of those with disabilities, sometimes even discharging them from their practice.
Authors of a recent study showing this bias spoke about their concerns on Greater Boston, saying some of the anecdotes they heard from doctors about treating patients with disabilities moved them to tears.
Dr. Tara Lagu, researcher with Mass General Hospital’s Mongan Institute said, "some of the attitudes expressed were inflammatory to the point where some of our research staff became tearful while they were reviewing the focus groups."
The research showed a majority of doctors felt at risk for ADA lawsuits and some of them even commented they felt ill-equipped to treat patients with disabilities.
"There were a lot of very negative statements implying that people with disabilities are not worthy of their care, are entitled, it was really inappropriate," Lagu said.
Dr. Lisa Iezzoni, lead author of the study and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said, "education is needed, training is needed, but the problem in my point of view is that we don't have time to wait ... we have growing numbers of people with disability in the country."
Watch: New data reveals alarming bias against those with disabilities in medical care
