The Independent Women’s Network played host to Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, Chairman of Do No Harm, who discussed how to save medicine from identity politics and wokeism.
The prognosis is grim, even with Dr. Goldfarb’s organization working tirelessly alongside legislatures to create and pass bills that will preserve the sanctity of the medical industry and, ultimately, people’s lives.
As Dr. Goldfarb explained, for decades, changes in medicine were slowly developing. The left dominates academic circles, including medical schools. He said that ideas that started out as low-level, such as looking for ways to give minorities a leg up, specifically blacks, didn’t warrant destroying an entire profession and putting patients at risk.
“If admittance directors found a modestly qualified person of color they deemed could get through medical school, the applicant was accepted. If it was perceived the applicant would struggle and not be able to handle the course load, he or she wasn’t accepted," says Dr. Goldfarb. There were still strict admittance standards, a rigorous curriculum, demanding professors, and devotion to science.
George Floyd and BLM changed that.
“Beginning in 2020, there was an acute radicalization across all spheres. A dramatic change as to who was accepted into medical school, the standards, the curriculum, the faculty, the protocol, and the care patients receive," says Dr. Goldfarb.
Admissions criteria has shifted away from accepting the most qualified students to jumping through hoops to dramatically bump up the black student body and black faculty population. Dr. Goldfarb a kidney specialist and Chairman of Medicine and Associate Dean of Curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania from 1998 to 2001, highlights the changes not only at his former university, but nationwide.
“UPenn has a tremendous bias towards accepting blacks, bending over backwards, even when they’re academically less qualified than whites or Asians. The change from a low-level idea to a high-level initiative was the overt willingness to sacrifice academic achievement in the name of diversity," states Dr. Goldfarb. “Curriculum is devoted to turning students into advocates for social activity. For example, there’s something referred to as ‘woke Wednesdays.’
"An entire day is devoted to social issues and problems of bias, and a curriculum was devoted to these perceived issues. Curriculum has been narrowed and watered down drastically. There has been a general reduction in the rigor of medical school curricula. Over the years, the amount of time devoted to science, both basic and clinical, has been reduced from two years down to fourteen months, and in some schools, just one year. In addition, during that [abbreviated] year... social issues have become the greater part of the medical curriculum," says Dr. Goldfarb.
Dr. Goldfarb adds that young physicians are ostensibly trained to be social workers. “It won’t improve students becoming physicians or ability to take care of patients”, he says. Dr. Goldfarb insists this trend should be resisted, and the science component of medical school should be increased.
“There are search committees and within each department at UPenn, there’s a DEI office primed to identify candidates for faculty hires in any way, shape, or form, that will bring in more blacks at the expense of turning down more qualified individuals. Diversity trumps attending elite institutions and the experience of working in highly regarded research programs. In fact, community activities are now viewed as more important as a means to justify the new direction.
"Additionally, signed diversity statements and pledges from faculty are required every three to six years as well as for the promotion process. Faculty must explain their diversity commitments vis a vis what they’ve done to assist in increasing it in admissions training and education. This will impact the quality of faculty”, posits Dr. Goldfarb. The focus is no longer on medicine but social activism. Dr. Goldfarb went on to say that this trend is national and that UPenn might even be on the more rational side, “though it’s plenty doctrinaire and ideological.”
Regarding kidney transplantation waiting lists, if a person isn’t black, Goldfarb indicates, they will not be chosen chronologically because medical schools have adopted Ibram Kendi’s call to action: “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination.”
Kidneys are scarce. There are two ways to get one: have a family member or good samaritan donate. Also, kidney function must be below 15 percent to qualify for the waitlist and transplant.
“An equation was developed to help measure kidney function used by clinicians. It required a correction factor, because every time they applied it to black patients, they underestimated their kidney function. So in order to have accuracy, this correction factor was used. It was shown over many, many instances that this correction factor was necessary. There was nothing racist about it, it was simply empirical observations that were made by scientists studying this problem.
"What happened was, activists, really young black women, came in and said ‘[the correction equation] was used on a racial basis, employed to hurt black people.’ This is a lie, this is not why the formula was created or how it was used. These activists said the formula was not accurate. It was accurate. It was fair. It was reality. But they denied the reality of the formula, saying it had a racist basis."
"Therefore, they sought out a different formula three years ago and decided to get rid of the prior one taking into account race, which was the accurate way to determine treatment, because people from different geographical origins have different issues. This new formula is both less accurate and is uniquely preferential towards blacks. The new formula overestimates kidney function in whites and underestimates it in blacks, creating errors on both sides. Moreover, UNOS (United Network of Organ Sharing) based in Richmond, Virginia, a quasi government organization, has gone back in time to recalculate previous patients who are black to retroactively change the waiting list," says Dr. Goldfarb.
Statistically, black people don’t get as many kidney transplants as frequently as white people. This is due to multiple reasons. There’s a ladder of extensive requirements that go beyond finding a donor and having a function of less than 15%. Opting into the waitlist demands evaluations, follow ups with the transplant center, in-depth medical evaluations on top of other tests because of the scarcity of this specific organ. Then, there’s surgery and the promise to follow strict guidelines regarding immunosuppressant medicines so as to not waste the kidney. “It’s a commitment to health and self care," says Dr. Goldfarb.
Additionally, the good samaritans donating kidneys, at a great financial expense to themselves as well as enduring post surgery recovery, are predominantly white. Donors used to get high placement on the waitlist, avoiding the potentially five-year wait time should they need a transplant following their selfless act. This is no longer the case, because nothing can be done to threaten bumping a black person from the top of the waitlist, notes Dr. Goldfarb.
Incredulously, physicians are now given computer prompts when working with black patients, reminders to acknowledge racism and to ask the patient which hospital unit he or she prefers. This was born from whites and blacks being sent to different units in hospitals based upon the reality of their different medical needs. For example, regarding the diagnosis of congestive heart failure, whites are usually sent to the cardiology floor and blacks are usually sent to the general medical floor. This is because black patients have higher rates of kidney failure and need dialysis treatment while white patients have higher rates of heart disease.
“The rationale was medical. Kidney patients are admitted to the hospital more frequently because of their clinical condition and underlying health issues. However, in 2020, the different hospital units for people originating from different geological locales were chalked up to racist physicians”, says Dr. Goldfarb.
Imagine an ill-informed patient deciding which unit and treatment he or she receives and the precious time wasted after choosing incorrectly.
“Now, assumptions follow the worldview that blacks are oppressed through the lens of CRT (critical race theory). When a disparity is identified, it’s because whites are oppressing the blacks. It can’t possibly have anything to do with clinical conditions," says Dr. Goldfarb.
CRT has crippled the medical profession, not only with a hyper-focus on race, but with a steely commitment to championing gender dysmorphia amidst the UN backing legal recommendations normalizing sex with minors.
“As it stands, this is a concept only in the United States. Europe came up with protocols making transitioning a lifelong treatment, because studies found the vast majority of kids, approximately 90 percent, outgrow the desire to transition, and that only a small number carry on with the extensive protocols. In America, a large number of autistic, suicidal, and anorexic girls suddenly, at puberty, want to change gender.
"It’s a social phenomenon found in young women with emotional problems. We have no idea how many kids drop out of the transitioning process. In some studies, the number is as high as 25 percent. Also, it doesn't benefit psychological wellbeing. A substantial amount have profound regret. Parents are pressured and told their kids will commit suicide," says Dr. Goldfarb.
Transitioning children usurps dealing with the mental health crisis that the Federal government and United States assistant secretary for health Rachel Levine have manufactured.
“Adult transgenders have a very high suicide rate. Surgery isn’t a panacea for the psychologically troubled. And it’s a lie that staving off surgery by opting into puberty blockers don’t effectuate permanent changes. Ninety-five percent of transitioners take hormones, which result in complications, and this treatment is necessary for the rest of the transitioners life," says Dr. Goldfarb.
Woke ideology has inflicted undue harm onto the medical profession as well as patients of all races. “Government’s goal is to turn health care into a social welfare program. Then, it can rationalize making healthcare a tool of welfare. This must be done by showing healthcare is dealing with blacks and poor people, so it demands more and more money to accomplish social goals,” notes Dr. Goldfarb.
This led to Dr. Goldfarb’s apolitical Do No Harm organization, a 501c3 from which he takes no salary, founded in 2022. The focus is on spreading awareness and producing actions to reverse this expensive and deadly trend. “We help the legislature pass laws by providing medical expertise, background information, and substantial research. We’ve assisted in Tennessee, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and Utah, and given testimony in Florida. In Tennessee, we’re hopeful a Bill we have worked on will pass. It is all related to DEI; diversity in health care, the forced signing of loyalty pledges from faculty, the basis for admitting applicants, standardized tests, and spending money on implicit bias training.
To learn more about Do No Harm, please visit https://donoharmmedicine.org.
