When Race Matters

When Race Matters

May 27, 2026 · 27 min · Season 2 · Episode 4

About this episode

This episode discusses the critical role of race in the diagnosis and treatment of patients, highlighted by the example of the pulse oximeter during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The story of the pulse oximeter demonstrates that sometimes consideration of race is critical to diagnosis and treatment — as came starkly into light during the Covid-19 pandemic. A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601977.

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NEJM Group

Products: pulse oximeter

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