I don’t know that “racism” is the right word to describe that, and in fairness you’re not going to capture its incidence in hospitals by gathering the mortality

I don’t know that “racism” is the right word to describe that, and in fairness you’re not going to capture its incidence in hospitals by gathering the mortality statistics for this particular surgery. On the other hand, I do think that much of the racial tension described in this article can be more charitably attributed to, for lack of a better word, a bad hospital. The quality of care this family experienced is one of the reasons I (speaking as a white guy) won’t go to certain hospitals in my area unless it’s an emergency. In fact, most recently a relative of mine broke her femur and I was asking the EMTs if we could choose the hospital (we couldn’t, which is probably better for society, but unfortunate for my family). On a broader note I dislike the New Yorker setting this article up to be about the medical concept of death in the headline, then making it a story of racial tension in medical treatment. The story explicitly mentions the races and professions of various people involved, even going so far as to refer to a sympathetic staff member as African American. I was interested in reading a new perspective about brain death, but this just seems to be trying to develop a story.