Ep 253 - Death by Inequality with Stephen Bezruchka

The consequences of income inequality extend far beyond economic disparities. Stephen Bezruchka focuses on its effect on health. Stephen is on the faculty of the School of Public Health at University of Washington and is author of Inequality Kills Us All. Much of this interview looks at these issues in the US.

Stephen directly ties inequality to mortality rates, disease, and early childhood development. It’s interesting to hear a physician who doesn’t blame our individual choices and habits; he lays our health problems squarely at the feet of the political and economic system.

The profit-driven nature of healthcare in the US prioritizes financial gain over the health of individuals. Stephen describes the role of the lobbying industry and private corporations contribute to the perpetuation of this system.

The conversation concludes with a discussion on the concept of social murder and structural violence.

Stephen Bezruchka (pronounced bez rootch ka ) is faculty in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle. He worked as an emergency physician for 30 years and also set up a teaching hospital in a remote district in Nepal where he supervised the training of Nepali doctors. His current work is in making better known what produces health in a population and why the United States has worse health outcomes than some 50 other nations despite spending almost half of the world's healthcare bill.

His book: Inequality Kills Us All: COVID-19's Health Lessons for the World is published by Routledge.

@SBezruchka on Twitter