Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether healthcare providers used race-based cardiovascular ASCVD risk calculators that may have influenced decisions regarding cholesterol-lowering medications and preventive heart disease treatment.
For years, one of the nation’s most commonly used cardiovascular risk calculators estimated a patient’s likelihood of developing heart disease using separate equations based partly on race. Critics argue that these race-based adjustments may have caused some patients to receive medications sooner than necessary while delaying preventive treatment for others.
What Patients Report
Patients report:
- Being told race affected their estimated heart disease risk.
- Receiving treatment recommendations based upon computerized risk scores.
- Learning that race-neutral alternatives have been proposed.
- Difficulty understanding how their risk score was calculated.
- Receiving different treatment recommendations than similarly situated patients.
- Concern that race influenced preventive medical care.
Why Patients Should Be Concerned
Risk calculators should assist physicians by accurately estimating disease risk. If race changed a patient’s estimated cardiovascular risk, it may have influenced medication recommendations, preventive treatment, and informed consent discussions.
This investigation seeks to determine whether healthcare providers continued using race-based ASCVD risk calculators despite growing concerns regarding their fairness and scientific validity.
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 a cardiovascular risk assessment.
- Your provider calculated your 10-year heart disease risk.
- Race affected your calculated score.
- You were prescribed or denied statin therapy because of that score.
- You were not informed race was included in the calculation.
- 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.