More: In the study, opioid narcotics were prescribed in 31 percent of the pain-related visits involving whites, 28 percent for Asians, 24 percent for Hispanics and 23 percent for blacks.

Minorities were slightly more likely than whites to get aspirin, ibuprofen and similar drugs for pain.

In more than 2,000 visits for kidney stones, whites got narcotics 72 percent of the time, Hispanics 68 percent, Asians 67 percent and blacks 56 percent.

The data came from a well-regarded government survey that collects information on emergency room visits for four weeks each year from 500 U.S. hospitals. The new study was funded by federal grants.

Ugh. And I correspond almost weekly with white people who really don't believe racism still exists.

The irony, she said, is that blacks are the least likely group to abuse prescription drugs

Is that part of the same study? It seems such a finding would be at least as important in correcting attitudinal biases.