- Winfrey said doctors misdiagnosed Oprah’s thyroid problem as a heart problem in 2007 Los Angeles Times.
- Winfrey ran into a doctor, who told the TV character “I’m not going to die on you.”
- The interview was to promote her new documentary “The Color of Care”.
Oprah Winfrey has spoken about the impact medical racism and access to health care have had on her life — including a time when a doctor misdiagnosed a thyroid problem that caused her heart palpitations.
And she said, ‘What would I do?’ You are Oprah Winfrey, and I wouldn’t die on you without doing everything I thought I could do,” He told the Los Angeles Times.
Winfrey said she believes the doctor acted “irresponsibly”.
“And I also thought, for the first time, ‘I can see now that when you show up and become a known person, even though everyone seems excited to see you, they’re also nervous because they also have to cover up,'” Winfrey said.
Winfrey spoke about her experiences as a black woman when dealing with the health care system. The 68-year-old talk show legend said that celebrity access to healthcare has its drawbacks, but also its advantages.
“I’ve noticed that things change for you when you’re a well-known person. You get a doctor’s appointment. You don’t have to wait in line. You don’t have to deal with so many extra delays that other people have and so I lived that life of privilege and benefits, then had the best health care.”
The interview was partly to promote a documentary that Winfrey is producing called “color care” Which addresses racial inequality in health. In the United States, racial differences lead to lower quality of health care and death from preventable diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people of color and low incomes have been too More likely to contract and die from COVID-19.
Winfrey said she was inspired to make the movie after learning about Gary Fowler, the black man who died on his sofa After being rejected from three emergency rooms due to symptoms of COVID-19.
Winfrey also revealed during the interview that she has stayed home for 322 days in a row during the pandemic and will continue to wear masks as a precaution.
