U.S. FDA Panel Addresses Oximeter's Effectivity on Darker Skin Tones as 'Critical' Amidst COVID-19

COVID-19 has remained a concern in different parts of the world for two years since the start of the global pandemic. Thus, researchers and health professionals continue to develop new devices to adapt to and improve the situation.

Attempting to raise room for improvement, a controversial publication from the University of Michigan questions the accuracy of the oximeter, one of the devices commonly used to detect oxygen level anomalies as one of the symptoms of COVID-19.

Assistant professor Thomas Valley has found that patients of black or brown skin color show nearly three times the frequency as white patients when tested by an oximeter. The newfound flaw in the oximeter raises the issue of racial bias in the health community.

U.S. FDA To Hold Meeting Regarding Oximeter Inaccuracy

CTV News reported that the United States Food and Drug Administration committee would hold a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 2, to discuss and come up with a solution to the oximeter's inaccuracy.

According to the obtained U.S. FDA review for the upcoming meeting, the Anesthesiology and Respiratory Therapy Devices Panel will coordinate with patients, regulators, and researchers to come up with a solution to improve the medical device.

U.S. FDA Faces Backlash For Initially Ignoring Issue

Health professionals and researchers have been calling out the U.S. FDA regarding their response to the inaccuracy of the oximeter towards dark-skinned patients for years.

A Ph.D. student from Brown University studying racial disparities in pulse oximetry, Rutendo Jakachira, expressed their thoughts on the U.S. FDA's treatment of the issue to CNN and attributed the lack of action as lack of significance until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Since the pandemic, health professionals see an increased useof pulse oximeters in hospitals and home setting.

Alternative Solution for Dark-skinned Patients

As the U.S. FDA has yet to conduct the upcoming meeting, emergency medicine physician, Dr. Owais Durrani, proposed an alternative solution based on his experience with taking the oxygen pulse of patients with darker skin.

Dr. Durrani explained to CNN that he conducts a "walking" pulse oximeter reading on darker-skinned patients as a way to compensate for the possible overestimating discrepancy. The technique would require the patient to walk for at least five minutes so that if their oxygen levels are actually at a higher risk, the number will drop down.

Despite figuring out a band-aid solution, Dr. Durrani still expressed his "happiness" that the U.S. FDA is finally addressing the "critical issue" on a national level amidst the global pandemic, and hopes for the day that the oximeter can be fully trusted on its readings regardless of skin color.

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Written by: Andi C.