Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether Ascension clinics continued using race-based cardiovascular risk calculators when evaluating patients for cholesterol-lowering medications and other preventive heart disease treatments.
One of the most commonly used cardiovascular risk calculators estimates a patient’s likelihood of developing heart disease over the next ten years. Historically, that calculator used different equations depending upon whether a patient identified as Black or non-Black. Critics argue that incorporating race into treatment recommendations may result in some patients receiving medications earlier than necessary while others experience delayed preventive treatment.
What Patients Report
Patients report:
- Being told that race affected their estimated heart disease risk.
- Receiving recommendations for statin medications based upon computerized risk calculations.
- Learning that race-neutral alternatives have been proposed.
- Difficulty understanding how risk scores were calculated.
- Receiving different treatment recommendations than expected.
- Concern that race influenced medical decision-making.
Why Patients Should Be Concerned
Risk calculators are intended to assist—not replace—clinical judgment. When race is included as a factor, patients may receive different treatment recommendations even when their medical histories are otherwise similar.
This investigation seeks to determine whether Ascension continued using race-based cardiovascular risk calculators after concerns emerged regarding their fairness and scientific validity, and whether patients were adequately informed about how their treatment recommendations were generated.
Potential Claims May Include
- Healthcare Discrimination
- Violation of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act
- Consumer Protection
- Lack of Informed Consent
- Medical Negligence
Signs You May Be Affected
You may be affected if:
- You received cardiovascular risk counseling at an Ascension facility.
- A provider calculated your 10-year heart disease risk.
- Race or ethnicity affected your risk score.
- You were prescribed or denied statin therapy based upon that calculation.
- You were not informed that race was included in the formula.
- You believe race influenced your treatment recommendations.
If you have encountered these issues, we would like to hear from you. Please complete the contact form on this page, send us an email at [email protected], or give us a call at (202) 470-3520.