I came across a video on TikTok by @Nursebblay about how she took her 7-year-old daughter to the pediatrician because she was showing early signs of puberty. The doctor mentioned that had the patient been White, she would have recommended additional testing. But stated that because she was Black, and Black & Latina girls go into puberty early, that nothing needed to be done. In 1997, the Pediatric Endocrine Society first recommended new race-based criteria for defining precocious puberty based research papers that showed earlier onset of puberty in Black girls. It said that breast development should only be considered precocious in Black girls younger than 6 years but White girls younger than 7. The guidelines weren’t formally accepted, yet race has become widely accepted as a factor in puberty timing of girls. It wasn’t until after this Mom demanded for additional labs, that her daughter’s results eventually came back abnormal and a further work-up was started. I hope this story highlights how race-based assumptions in healthcare can lead to overlooked diagnoses. When we use race as a proxy for other factors, we overlook problems that could be occurring. Let’s continue challenging racial biases in medicine for better care for all. #joelbervell #racialbiasinmedicine #medicalmythbuster