Body and Soul Chapters 3 & 4

Chapter 3 opens with a story that was featured in the February 1970 issue of the Black Panther. The story reveals a case of an infant who died due to lack of healthcare. Nelson explains that “doctors ‘hurriedly’ examined the baby and allegedly sent him home with medication, but without proper diagnosis” (75). This injustice reveals that if healthcare professionals were not completely willing to take care of a helpless infant, then they were unlikely to treat adults any better. People's Free Medical Clinics were established by the Black Panther Party to provide people with free healthcare so that they did not have to fear unprofessional care that was experienced in other medical settings. Although people now had somewhere to turn when their health was threatened, the members of the Party who worked to better the healthcare of others were also afflicted with illness due to the “...stressful conditions under which the activists lived and worked” (94). Working hours that were considered much more than full time, and living in communal living arrangements lead to quicker spread of disease. Because the members were not well rested and did not have a good diet, illness such as pneumonia were spread among them. The activists were suffering, and losing their own health for the healthcare of others. After recognizing the health issues among their own members, not just the general public, the Party organized methods to prevent illness, instead of just treating it. For example, the “freeze list” kept track of members who had sexually transmitted diseases, and made sure that they were taking medications and not spreading the disease (95). Not only did the Party seek to help those in need of medical attention, but the Panthers “...sought to shine a light not only on the plight of disease sufferers but also on the inequities of a profit-driven U.S. healthcare system…” (116). This leaves me wondering just how much of the healthcare system in the U.S. has changed since then. How are we still allowing people to receive poor healthcare even though so much attention has been drawn to the flaws of the healthcare system?