Black Covid Patients Were Delayed Life-Saving Care Due To Faulty Medical Device

ByCandace McDuffie, The Root

A new study shows that false pulse oximeter readings for Black, Latino and Asian Covid patients resulted in doctors’ decision to postpone treatment.

A new study, published by The Journal of the American Medical Association on May 31, revealed that pulse oximeters overestimated the blood oxygen levels in Black, Hispanic, and Asian COVID-19 patients.

Pulse oximeters are devices that attaches to the finger to measure how much oxygen the lungs and heart are sending to the body. Light beams are used to measure pulse rate and oxygen saturation of the blood.

Due to the pulse oximeter’s faulty nature, people of color were more likely to receive delayed Covid-19 treatment that would have reduced hospitalizations and death.

Co-author of the study and assistant professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine Tianshi David Wu told Stat news: “These are likely patients who were seen in emergency rooms and sent home. There are patients that probably should have had these therapies, and the majority were Black patients.”

Find out how researchers uncovered this shocking inequality.

Despite many people being less cautious about COVID-19, Black Americans remain concerned. Perhaps because Lawsuits also prevented COVID-19 funding intended for Black people.

Health inequalities are a common topic in ABHM’s breaking news archive.