“I don’t trust this hospital,” said Dr. Susan Moore from her hospital bed in Indiana, with an oxygen tube attached to her nose. “This is not how you treat patients.”
Moore, an Indianapolis doctor who was being treated for COVID-19 at Indiana University Hospital North, died of the virus this week. Earlier this month, she posted a video on Facebook to share that she believed she was not receiving adequate medical care because she was black.
Moore tested positive for the coronavirus on November 29 and said his symptoms included high respiratory rate, high heart rate, high fever and bloody cough. She described the difficult battle she faced to get treatment from White doctors and nurses at the hospital, including begging for the antiviral drug Remdesivir, waiting hours for pain killers and requiring a CT scan of her chest to prove her pain was real.
Her scan detected lung infiltrates and inflamed lymph nodes, she said, but she continued to wait hours for pain medication.
“All I know is that I am in severe pain,” said Moore in the heart-breaking video, adding that the doctor had minimized his pain. “[The doctor] it made me feel like a drug addict, and he knew I was a doctor. ”
She spoke to a patient advocate, who said that nothing could be done. She also asked to be transferred to a different hospital, but was told that she should simply go home.
“That’s how black people are killed,” said Moore. “When you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves.”
As a doctor, Moore clearly knew what to ask for, but she struggled to keep defending herself as her condition worsened.
“I introduced and maintain, if I were white, I wouldn’t have to go through this,” said Moore. “AND [the doctor] he never came back and apologized. ”
Moore was eventually sent home, but less than 12 hours later, she had a fever and her blood pressure dropped, so she went back to the hospital.
GoFundMe
“These people were trying to kill me. Clearly, everyone agrees that they let me go too early,” she wrote. “They are now treating me for bacterial pneumonia and also for Covid pneumonia.”
Moore’s story has become very common for black Americans, as COVID-19 disproportionately devastates black communities across the country. Black Americans are 4.7 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than white Americans and three times more likely to die from the virus.
According to a GoFundMe created to cover his family’s expenses, Moore’s 19-year-old son, Henry Muhammed, is “in a good mood” but must now deal with her death and also with her grandparents’ dementia. Dr. Moore was the sole provider for the family.
GoFundMe
Henry was previously enrolled at Indiana University to study biochemistry and mathematics, but suspended his studies to care for his mother and grandparents. An update from GoFundMe said that some of the funds will be used to ensure that his studies continue.
“Susan was a phenomenal doctor,” the organizers said in a statement. “She loved to practice medicine, loved being a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., loved helping people and was not sorry for that.”
In Moore’s Facebook post, she said the hospital’s medical director said her team will receive diversity training and that she will receive an apology from the doctor treating her.
“We are very sad to hear of Dr. Susan Moore’s death and our hearts are with her friends and family,” the hospital said in a statement on Wednesday.
“As an organization committed to equity and the reduction of racial disparities in healthcare, we take allegations of discrimination very seriously and investigate all allegations. Treatment options are often agreed upon and reviewed by medical experts from a variety of specialties. , and we maintain the commitment and experience of our caregivers and the quality of care provided to our patients every day. “