March 10, 2022
The MMA submitted a letter of support for HF3972 (Rep. Ruth Richardson-DFL, Mendota Heights), a bill that would prohibit race or ethnicity from being used as factors for organ transplant decisions. The bill passed the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee unanimously on March 10, and was referred to the House floor.
“The science is very clear, race is a politically developed classification system based on physical characteristics and geographic ancestry and is not based on science and does not represent shared genetic ancestry,” the MMA’s letter said. “Since race is not biological, there is no value in attributing race to innate biological differences. Using race as a proxy for genetics and genetic ancestry allows for harmful continuations of racial ideology and has the potential to negatively impact patient care.”’
Citing the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, the letter noted that “leading geneticists concluded that race is neither a rational nor effective representation of real human biological variability. This project found that people can have greater genetic similarity to those outside their racial category than to those within their racial category, which demonstrates that genetic variation does not follow along racial lines.”
The letter went on to state: “The way physicians and other health care workers think and talk about race, racism, and health disparities, affects how we treat our patients. We need to understand how race and racism result in health disparities. When we use race as a substitute for genetic ancestry, it limits us from investigating and addressing racism and other racial traumas as the cause of health disparities.”
“The organ donation system has been failing patients of color through every phase of the process,” noted Richardson during the committee hearing. “From getting on the wait list, to finding a match, to getting a donor, patients of color in need of transplants experience different treatment in a system rooted in inequity.”
Prohibiting discriminatory practices regarding access to organ transplants is an important step in addressing health disparities in Minnesota, which has some of the greatest racial health disparities in the country.
August 28, 2025
The apparent removal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director, Susan Monarez, PhD, after just weeks on the job, further imperils the work of the CDC and the health of Americans. Her removal was followed by the resignations of other senior leaders at the CDC, who have accused HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. of undermining scientific recommendations for vaccines.
August 26, 2025
University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham, MD, will speak at the Empowering Physicians: A Night of Learning & Connection event on Friday, September 26, from 4 to 9 pm, at the historic Hewing Hotel in downtown Minneapolis.
August 26, 2025
America's physicians are seeing a rise in misinformation and disinformation from patients these days, and it’s impacting patient care, according to a new study from the Physicians Foundation.