In Window Rock, Loretta Begaye receives a notification: the wellness pilot that provided her continuous glucose monitor has ended, her device will stop transmitting, and her historical data may be retained for research.

She tries to export it. She cannot. She tries to delete it. She cannot. Then she learns from Darlene Yazzie, an Indian Health Service nurse, that de-identified community data is being routed into a new research partnership without individual consent.

Mara asks Chiron whether this is happening to other Principals. The answer is yes. Kwame’s cardiac data. Helen’s oncology data. Yolanda’s prenatal data. Wen’s misclassified pain data. Loretta’s glucose data. Different lives, same pattern.

The signal is being treated as a commodity.

But the signal belongs to the Principal — and in Window Rock, the question becomes bigger than one patient. It becomes a question of Nation, memory, consent, and sovereignty.

Themes: Data sovereignty, tribal health, diabetes, consent, research ethics, patient data, community governance, the signal

Tags: data sovereignty, Navajo Nation, Diné, diabetes, patient data, health equity, AI ethics, medical research, informed consent, Health 4.0, BEDSIDE, The Pulse

BEDSIDE: The Pulse is a work of speculative health-system fiction written and narrated by Robin Blackstone, MD. It is not medical advice.