University of Maryland Medical System drops race-based algorithm officials say harms Black patientsPosted in Articles, Health/Medicine/Genetics, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, United States on 2021-11-27 23:29Z by Steven |
University of Maryland Medical System drops race-based algorithm officials say harms Black patients
The Washington Post
2021-11-17
Ovetta Wiggins, Local reporter covering Maryland state politics
Uchenna Ndubisi was blown away when she first noticed the “African American” notation on a diagnostic test designed to show doctors how well her kidneys are working.
What did her race have to do with the toll lupus was taking on her body? The answer left her more resigned than surprised: an equation used to estimate how well a person’s organs filter waste included a decades-old racist assumption about Black bodies.
In this case, clinicians assumed Ndubisi had more muscle mass than a White patient would. For many Black kidney patients, like Ndubisi, the equation overestimates how well their kidneys are functioning, leading to the loss of critical time for necessary treatment.
“It’s being Black in America,” said Ndubisi, 35, who lives in Prince George’s County. “Another reminder . . . that there’s hurdles into health care for African Americans in this country.”…
Read the entire article here.
