Racism in healthcare is “Undeniable, irrefutable—the data is there.” Those were the words of Dr. Benjamin Danielson, one of Seattle’s most respected pediatricians. In 2020, he resigned from Seattle Children’s Hospital, citing years of systemic racism and prejudice against healthcare workers and patients. Last December, a jury awarded him $21 million in non-economic damages. But his victory is not just personal—it’s a wake-up call for Washington’s healthcare system and a reminder that for many patients of color, being unheard can be fatal.
Seattle Children’s delayed the release of its internal racism investigation for over a year—an act that deeply undermined public trust. That investigation reportedly confirmed the very patterns of racial harm that Dr. Danielson and others had long described. During the trial, the jury was presented with evidence of racial discrimination directed not only at Dr. Danielson but also at his colleagues and the hospital’s patients and families. This reveals a critical truth: racism in healthcare is systemic, institutional, and impacts both providers and patients. When hospitals allow these patterns to persist, they not only fail their staff but also endanger the very communities they are meant to serve.
16-year-old Sahana Ramesh’s tragic story reinforces the implicit racial biases embedded in our healthcare institutions. Sahana was a bright and healthy teenager living in Bothell, Washington, when she developed painful rashes and swelling on her face, hands, and feet. Her family urgently took her to the ER at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she was diagnosed with DRESS—a rare and severe drug reaction.
As her symptoms worsened, her parents desperately called the hospital 16 times and sent 22 emails in search of answers. Yet despite Sahana’s exacerbating health and her family’s urgent pleas, they were repeatedly downplayed by clinicians. By the time she and her family were taken seriously, it was too late. Sahana’s death is not an isolated incident—it is part of a pattern in which the concerns of patients of color are too often dismissed or deprioritized. “Evidence shows that if Sahana and her parents had been white, they would have had a better chance of getting admitted to the hospital,” as the Rameshs’ attorney, Martin McLean, asserted. Her story, like Dr. Danielson’s, reveals the life-threatening consequences of implicit bias and institutional neglect.
These disparities extend beyond emergency care and into specialized fields like dermatology, where racial bias begins in medical training. “Physicians must identify conditions from photos of skin in textbooks or shared in the classroom. But most of the patients in those images are white, and only 4.5% of the images show dark skin,” states dermatologist Jasmine Onyeka Obioha, MD. As a result, clinicians often struggle to diagnose conditions in patients whose appearances and symptoms fall outside of the narrow standards they were taught, leading to higher rates of misdiagnosis among patients of color. In fact, “Women and racial and ethnic minorities are 20% to 30% more likely than white men to experience a misdiagnosis,” said Johns Hopkins professor David Newman-Toker. This becomes especially dangerous in communities like South Seattle, where many families of color reside and access to dermatologists familiar with diverse skin tones remains limited.
To begin addressing these failures, Washington’s healthcare institutions must change structurally. Hospitals like Seattle Children’s must promote an ethnically inclusive workforce and improve patient advocacy systems—so that when families like Sahana’s speak up, they are heard, regardless of their background or race. Medical schools—including the University of Washington—must diversify their curricula by incorporating diagnostic imagery that equitably represents all skin tones—not just white skin.
Beyond a legal reckoning, the Seattle Children’s verdict was a stark reflection of the failures embedded in our healthcare institutions. If we don’t respond with urgency and structural reform, we risk repeating the same harm to the patients, families, and communities who need care the most.
Bibliography
Recht, Hannah. “Misdiagnosed: Women and People of Color Face Widespread Medical Diagnostic Errors.” KFF Health News, 26 Feb. 2024, https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/medical-misdiagnosis-women-minorities-health-care-bias/.
Cedars-Sinai. “Why Skin Issues in Patients of Color Are Neglected, Mistreated.” Cedars-Sinai Newsroom, 1 Mar. 2023, https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/why-skin-issues-in-patients-of-color-are-neglected-mistreated/.
Crowder, Madison Wade. “Bothell Family Alleges Racism at Seattle Children’s Hospital in Daughter’s Death.” KING 5 News, 12 Dec. 2023, https://www.king5.com/article/news/investigations/investigators/bothell-family-alleges-racism-seattle-childrens-hospital-daughters-death/281-50d708b3-3b06-422b-a19a-cc3b766d82b6.
Schroeter Goldmark & Bender. “Jury Awards Former Seattle Children’s Doctor $21M in Race Discrimination Lawsuit.” SGB Law, 19 Dec. 2024, https://sgb-law.com/news/jury-awards-former-seattle-childrens-doctor-21m-in-race-discrimination-lawsuit.
Williams, Race and Justice Reporter Erica. “Dr. Ben Danielson Speaks out on Systemic Racism in Health Care.” KING 5 News, 18 Dec. 2020, https://www.king5.com/article/news/community/facing-race/doctor-ben-danielson-seattle-childrens-hospital-systemic-racism-health-care/281-94b16198-3c41-4db8-96d1-1dfc257d98e5.
