University of Maryland Medical System drops race-based algorithm officials say harms Black patients [washingtonpost.com]

Carey Sipp 11/18/2112:05 PM

By Ovetta Wiggins, Photo: Astrid Riecken, The Washington Post, November 17, 2021

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 wasteincluded 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.

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