We have lost our way in medicine by solely relying on laboratory results and diagnostic tests that were fleshed out using 70 kg white men from the military, from World War 1 and World War 2. The CDC finally sent out an alert about the inaccuracy of the pulse oximeter findings in the black population. They concluded that clinical judgment must be used instead.
The core of clinical judgment is based on what the patient says/symptoms, as well as, the use of their biological and physiological variance (NIH lingo), to come up with a treatment plan that is specific/precise to the patient.
This is what is lacking in the care of the black population. Fancy words such as implicit bias are used to describe florid medical racism. The black population normally becomes symptomatic when their labs drift below the 50th percentile, but we are told our labs are normal, not for us. Sometimes, by the time the lab results drifts down to 25th percentile, we have already experienced a catastrophic event, a heart attack or stroke.
To advance medicine in the 21st century, the patient’s genetic polymrphisms and epigenetic polymorphisms must dictate their care. I envision a promised land of quality healthcare driven by precision medicine.