Many patients face significant barriers when seeking care for chronic conditions. This was recently highlighted by Dr Joel Bervell, who showcased a video involving a Texas woman named Charvon Putman. Putman, who lives with Sickle Cell Anemia, recorded herself at the hospital when she sought help for a flare-up. There, a doctor questioned her, stating, “The fact that you’re always asking for Benadryl makes it seem like you’re trying to get high and not trying to treat the pain.”
Bervell, a Ghanaian-American physician and resident doctor in Washington, featured this interaction on Instagram and TikTok to address the alleged inherent bias present in the clinical setting. Bervell, who won a Peabody Award for his work on racial and gender bias in healthcare, claimed that the clinician’s response was a prime example of how medical professionals can prioritize their own assumptions over a patient’s lived experience.
