A physician directory created to help Black patients connect with Black healthcare providers is now at the center of a federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination.
According to Black Enterprise, the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, targets Find A Black Doctor and its founder, Dr. Dina Strachan. Conservative medical advocacy group Do No Harm joined Colorado dermatologist Dr. Travis Morrell in accusing the platform of excluding non-Black physicians from its directory. According to the complaint, the site limits eligibility to “Black physicians and dentists in active clinical practice,” which the plaintiffs argue violates anti-discrimination laws.
Morrell, who practices in Grand Junction, Colorado, claims he applied to join the directory in December 2025 and never received a response. The lawsuit says follow-up attempts were also ignored, alleging his application was “constructively rejected because he is white.”
The plaintiffs are seeking damages and a court order preventing the platform from considering race in its approval process.
But the lawsuit lands amid years of medical research showing Black patients often experience significantly better outcomes when treated by Black physicians — particularly in areas involving preventive care, maternal health, and infant mortality.
One Stanford University study found Black men were substantially more likely to agree to preventative screenings and medical interventions when treated by Black doctors, while separate research showed Black newborns had higher survival rates under the care of Black physicians.
The platform itself was built around that concept, often referred to as “racial concordance,” which centers on the idea that shared lived experiences and cultural understanding can improve patient trust and communication.
The lawsuit specifically challenges that philosophy, accusing the site of relying on what it calls “harmful, offensive, and racist stereotypes.”
Black physicians make up roughly 5% of active doctors in the United States despite Black Americans accounting for around 13% of the population.
Meanwhile, Black women continue to face one of the country’s most severe healthcare gaps, with maternal mortality rates more than three times higher than those of white women, according to federal health data. Research has repeatedly linked those disparities to systemic bias, gaps in treatment, and unequal access to culturally competent care.
