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Still systematically killing us.
https://www.wired.com/story/how-algorithm-blocked-kidney-transplants-black-patients/
The study analyzed health records for 57,000 people with chronic kidney disease from the Mass General Brigham health system that includes Harvard teaching hospitals Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's. One third of Black patients, more than 700 people, would have been placed into a more severe category of kidney disease if their kidney function had been estimated using the same formula as for white patients.
That could have affected decisions such as when to refer someone to a kidney specialist, or refer them for a kidney transplant. In 64 cases, patients’ recalculated scores would have qualified them for a kidney transplant wait list. None had been referred or evaluated for transplant, suggesting doctors did not question the race-based recommendations.
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The study is the most recent of several signs that math tools exacerbate health inequalities. Last year, software used by many health systems to prioritize access to special care for chronic conditions was found to systematically privilege white patients over Black patients. It didn’t explicitly take account of race, but replicated patterns in access to health care caused by factors like poverty.
The kidney algorithm, by contrast, is one of many clinical decision algorithms that explicitly take account of race. A recent review listed more than a dozen such tools, in areas including cancer and lung care. In August, a group of Black retired NFL players sued the league, claiming it used an algorithm that assumes white people have higher cognitive function to decide compensation for brain injuries.
** end swipe **
Don't let the word algorithm fool you though, there were biased white folk whether conscious of it or not behind all of these shits.
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Big PEMFin H & z's
"I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." � Miles
"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."
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