Freakonomics, M.D.

63. What Medicine Gets Wrong About Race

Dec 2, 2022
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ANECDOTE

Personal Stakes

  • Dr. Amaka Inanya, a nephrologist, became involved in a controversy about a racially-biased kidney function equation.
  • Her family was directly affected by the equation, motivating her involvement.
INSIGHT

Two Equations

  • Doctors used two equations to estimate kidney function, one for Black patients and another for everyone else.
  • This resulted in Black patients appearing to have better kidney function, potentially delaying transplants.
INSIGHT

Race in eGFR

  • The first estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) equation was developed in 1999.
  • It included race as a variable, claiming it improved accuracy for Black individuals, leading to separate equations.
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