Utah, Minnesota Face Legal Action For Factoring Race, Ethnicity In Administering COVID-19 Drugs

A nonprofit group led by former members of the Trump administration on Wednesday threatened to sue the health departments of Minnesota and Utah after they issued guidance that considers race and ethnicity to determine COVID-19 treatment eligibility. America First Legal (AFL) in two separate letters to both states accused the health departments of issuing “blatantly racist, unconstitutional, and immoral policies” that “direct the ration of medicine based on race and self-selected ethnicity.” In Utah, COVID-19 patients are subject to a scoring system to determine who is most at risk, and therefore, eligible for certain treatments. The racial/ethnic category receives two “points,” similar to patients with the “highest-risk comorbidities” such as being severely immunocompromised, having diabetes, or being obese. The system grants one point for COVID-19 patients with “other high-risk comorbidities,” including hypertension, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease, congestive heart failure, and chronic liver disease. A patient’s age also determines …  » Read full article