UK calls for action on racial bias in medical devices

FILE PHOTO: A pulse oximeter is placed on the hand of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) positive patient at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Sotiria hospital, in Athens, Greece, November 12, 2021. Picture taken November 12, 2021. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain called on Sunday for international action on the issue of medical devices such as oximeters that work better on people with lighter skin, saying the disparities may have cost lives of ethnic minority patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he had commissioned a review of the issue after learning that oximeters, which measure blood oxygen levels and are key to assessing COVID patients, give less accurate readings for patients with darker skin.