The common medical devices don’t work as well for Black patients. The FDA is now trying to do something about it.

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But her request for supplemental oxygen while hospitalized was denied, Starr said, because readings from a pulse oximeter on her finger falsely indicated that she was getting plenty of air on her own.

Pulse oximeters measure the amount of light that passes through the skin as a way to estimate how much oxygen is in a patient’s red blood cells. Melanin, which absorbs light that passes through ...

Researchers from UCSF are leading an effort to find out which pulse oximeters work equally well on all skin colors. NBC News' Erika Edwards reports.