The reason I became kind of a central figure in this controversy is not because I'm an

equation person.

I have family members that were affected by the use of this.

That's Dr. Amaka Inanya.

She's an aphrologist or kidney doctor.

And the controversy she's referring to has to do with an equation that doctors have

used for decades to estimate kidney function.

That number determines crucial things about a patient's care, including whether they're

eligible for a spot on the wait list or a kidney transplant.

But the problem is there are actually two equations, one for black patients and one for

everyone else.

If you took two patients with identical health profiles, one black and one white, the

black patients estimated kidney function would look better than the white patients, even

if it wasn't.

This can have all sorts of implications, but perhaps most critically, the black patient

might have to wait longer for a spot on the transplant wait list.

I have kidney disease that runs in my family and I saw explicitly how that number affected

an individual's care in my family.

And so I just really could not walk away from this controversy.

It's deeply personal and I think it's deeply wrong.

There are huge disparities in health care and health outcomes across racial groups in

the United States.

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