Key quote:
Differences in prescribing were greatest for people with the worst pain. About 52 percent of whites in severe pain received opioids, compared with 42 percent of Hispanics and 39 percent of blacks.
To be sure, I have to think this is not just a race, but a class, issue, and also probably touches on the potential for the patient to actually pay the hospital for the drugs. But it still raises a significant ethical issue: Do acceptable levels of pain fluctuate between social classes? I'd argue they don't.
