“I’m in awe of someone who can make a decision like that at, you know, one of the worst moments in their lives and really think about ... humanity,” he said.
of a larger problem permeating health care.used in medical decisions — treatment guidelines, diagnostic tests, risk calculators — adjust the answers according to race or ethnicity in a way that puts people of color at disadvantage.
Given how embedded these equations are in medical software and electronic records, even doctors may not realize how widely they impact care decisions.“Health equity scholars have been raising alarm bells about the way race has been misused in clinical algorithms for decades,” said Dr. Michelle Morse, New York City’s chief medical officer.Change is beginning, slowly. No longer are obstetricians supposed to include race in determining the risk of a pregnant woman attempting vaginal birth after a prior C-section. The American Heart Association just removed race from a commonly used calculator of people’s heart disease risk. The American Thoracic Society has urged replacing race-based lung function evaluation.
The kidney saga is unique because of the effort to remedy a past wrong.“Lots of time when we see health inequities, we just assume there’s nothing we can do about it,” Morse said. “We can make changes to restore faith in the health system and to actually address the unfair and avoidable outcomes that Black people and other people of color face.”
Black Americans are over three times more likely than white people to experience kidney failure. Of the roughly 89,000 people currently on the waiting list for a new kidney, about 30% are Black.
Race isn’t a biological factor like age, sex or weight — it’s a social construct. So how did it make its way into calculations of kidney function?Hernandez finished the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 7 inches (1.7 meters), with no failed attempts. Co-winners Jillene Wetteland and Lelani Laruelle also cleared that height after each logged a failed attempt. The three shared the first-place win, smiling as they stepped together onto the podium.
Hernandez wrapped up the night with a first place finish in the triple jump, sharing the top spot with Kira Gant Hatcher who trailed by just over a half-meter. Earlier in the afternoon, Hernandez placed second in the long jump.Olympians Marion Jones and Tara Davis-Woodhall previously set state championship records in the long jump in 1993 and 2017, respectively, both surpassing 22 feet (6.7 meters). This year’s winner, Loren Webster, topped 21 feet (6.40 meters), with Hernandez trailing by a few inches.
The California Interscholastic Federation announced the new policy earlier this week in response to Hernandez’s success heading into the championships. Under the policy, the federation allowedand medal in the events where Hernandez qualified.