Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,

where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges.

If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jh.

.edu.

That's public health question at jh.g.u.

For future podcast episodes.

This is Lindsay Smith Rogers.

It's been widely noted that pulse oxymeters, devices used to read blood oxygen levels in hospitals and at home,

are far less reliable for people of color and especially darker-skinned patients than for white patients.

The error results in readings that are falsely normal, creating the potential for clinical staff

to miss life-threatening complications.

On Monday, July 8th, we're launching a special three-episode series, that's all three

episodes available at once, exploring the issue of racial bias in pulse oxymeters.

We'll look at why this longstanding problem only caught

the nation's attention in recent years, despite the fact that there were known issues that were

largely ignored by manufacturers and regulators. We'll also dive into the history that led us to

the flawed devices that are used in hospitals everywhere and available for consumers on the market today.

Finally, we'll hear from advocates from across the medical spectrum, including patients,

clinicians, students, and scholars about where we go from here to demand equity and ensure

that it's built into the future of medicine. Look for this special series on Monday, July 8th, wherever you get your podcasts,

or go to publichealth.j.j.org.

slash podcast.

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