Apple Watch features are biased against dark skin and lawsuit claims

Apple Inc. was hit with a class action lawsuit Christmas Eve alleging the pulse oximetry feature on the Apple Watch product doesn’t work on people with a “darker skin tone.”

New York’s plaintiff Alex Morales filed a multistate suit on behalf of the state, nine others and under the consumer fraud laws against the tech company in the Southern District.

Morales, who said he purchased an Apple Watch between 2020 and 2021, claims he was unaware the pulse oximetry feature, which measures the oxygen level of a wearer’s blood directly from their wrist, was biased against people with darker skin tones.

“For decades, there have been reports that such devices were significantly less accurate in measuring blood oxygen levels based on skin color,” According to the lawsuit. “The ‘real world significance’ of this bias lay unaddressed until the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic, which converged with a greater awareness of structural racism which exists in many aspects of society.”

According to the lawsuit researchers claim that the clinical significance racial biases in pulse oximetry was determined from records of patients who were examined during and after the pandemic.

It was concluded that “reliance on pulse oximetry to triage patients and adjust supplemental oxygen levels may place Black patients at increased risk for hypoxemia.”

According to the lawsuit, health care recommendations are based on blood oxygen levels. This allegedly gives white patients greater access to care than patients with darker skin, when they have low blood oxygenation.

The lawsuit states that Apple representatives affirmed and promised to remove biases from pulse oximetry regarding persons with darker skin tones.

USA Today was invited to a panel discussion by the Food and Drug Administration last month. reported We discussed research that showed pulse oximeters registered higher oxygen levels in those with darker skin tones.

Amal Jubran is a pulmonologist at Loyola University Medical Center, Illinois. He told the outlet that the problem was first discovered by researchers in the 1990s.

“It never got any traction, then the COVID pandemic brought everything to the forefront,” Jubran said.

Jubran and a coworker published a peer reviewed study in European Respiratory Journal, which found that oximeter readings were inaccurate in patients with darker skin. “unchanged” For 32 years.

Michael Sjoding (a University of Michigan colleague clinical professor) told the outlet that his past research showed that pulse oximeters produce less accurate results for patients with darker skin tones.

“What was described in these older studies might still be happening,” Sjoding spoke.

In 2020, the clinical professor and other colleagues conducted a study that found that 11.7% of black patients had higher oxygen levels than their pulse oximeters. This compares to 3.6% for white patients.

Apple launched its Watch product almost eight years ago. The Apple Watch quickly became a popular device after it was purchased by 4.2 million users in the second quarter 2015. More than 100 million people used an Apple Watch by December 2020.

Apple Insider reported in 2015 that the tech giant faced another lawsuit concerning the skin when users complained that black wrist tattoos interfered with the device’s heart sensor.

“Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can also impact heart rate sensor performance,” You can find the latest Apple support page at this outlet. “The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings.”

Before the Apple Watch Series 6 was launched in 2020, such issues were common.

Apple has yet not responded to media inquiries for comment.

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