An Indiana doctor has died from complications of COVID-19 a few weeks after reporting racial abuse on behalf of the hospital.
The New York Times reports that Dr. Susan Moore, a black doctor, was denied proper care and informed of her white doctor’s pain while she was admitted to North Indiana University Hospital. In a now viral video posted on Facebook, Moore shared his experience, documenting his positive coronavirus diagnosis on Nov. 29, premature discharge, and his eventual return to the hospital. She noted that she had to ask her doctor to treat her with the antiviral drug remdesivir, as well as a computed tomography of her neck and chest, because of all the pain she was feeling. However, the doctor initially refused to do both and instead questioned Moore’s symptoms and suggested that instead of having to be discharged. The doctor would end up forcing him, but only after medical tests revealed that Moore did indeed have new pulmonary infiltrates in his lungs that warranted the necessary and immediate attention.
“I filed, and I keep, if I was white, I shouldn’t go through that,” Moore said in his video. “I don’t trust this hospital and I ask to be transferred. These people wanted to send me home with new lung infiltrates and all kinds of lymphadenopathy in my neck. This is how blacks are killed. When you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves. I have to talk to someone, maybe to the media, to someone, to let people know how they treat me in this place. “
Unfortunately for Moore, it wasn’t the first time she had to be her own health advocate. It is also not the first time that there are disparities in racial health, especially in terms of their relationships. Black and brown communities and the coronavirus, have been exposed.
From the New York Times:
She was not unaware of the challenges of receiving proper medical care, said Mr Muhammed, her 19-year-old son. He had sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that attacks the lungs and was frequently treated in hospitals. “Almost every time she went to the hospital she had to fend for herself, fight for something in some way, shape or form, just to get basic and proper care,” she said.
Dr. Moore’s case has sparked outrage and renewed calls to address biased medical treatment of black patients. Extensive research suggests that black patients often receive inferior treatment to their white counterparts, especially when it comes to pain relief. “It’s had a big impact,” said Dr. Christina Council, a black Maryland primary care physician who is black, from Dr. Moore’s experience. “Sometimes, when we think of medical bias, it seems so far away. We can sit there and say, “Okay, it can happen to someone who may be poorer.” But when you really see what happens to a co-worker and you see her in the hospital bed and she literally claims her life, she plays in a different way and she really comes home and says, “Wow, we have to do something”. ”
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Prior to Moore’s death, he revealed that he had expressed his concerns to the hospital’s chief medical officer, who promised better care and a new doctor. Even though things started to look up, Moore still felt he wasn’t getting the best attention possible. On December 7, after discharge, she was admitted to a different hospital less than 12 hours later, where she was treated for both bacterial pneumonia and Covid-19 pneumonia. Ultimately, I would succumb to these complications weeks later.
A GoFundMe campaign has been created to cover the funeral expenses of Moore’s son and elderly parents suffering from dementia. “Susan was a phenomenal doctor,” the campaign states. “He loved practicing medicine, he loved being a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., he loved helping people and he didn’t apologize.”
“This fundraiser will serve to help his family with immediate needs, which are currently housing and food, as it was the only company that provided for his son and parents. This page will be updated as more needs arise, including funeral costs, relocation expenses, and accessories. “