Risks and Benefits of the Proposed Amputation Reduction and Compassion Act for Disadvantaged Patients

Abstract

Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in the major risk factors for vascular disease and access to vascular specialist care are well-documented.^1-3 The higher incidence of diabetes, peripheral artery disease (PAD), and related nontraumatic lower extremity amputation among racial and ethnic minority groups, those of low socioeconomic status, and those with poor access to care based on geography (together, referred to below as disadvantaged groups) are particularly pervasive.^1,4-9 Practitioners of vascular surgery and endovascular therapy are uniquely positioned to address health inequities in lower extremity screening, medical management, intervention, and limb preservation among the population of adults at the highest risk for limb loss.