Covid-19’s death this month of a black doctor who said she needed to beg for proper medical care and was discharged prematurely from a hospital underscores the prejudice that blacks, especially black women, face in the US health care system, numerous doctors and others said, expressing outrage.
The woman, Dr. Susan Moore, 52, of Indianapolis, said she tested positive for Covid-19 on November 29 and was hospitalized at Indiana University Health North. She documented her tumultuous stay in a Facebook post on December 4, which included a video recorded on her hospital bed. The video, of about 7 minutes, detailed her complaints and dissatisfaction with the way the team members treated her, which she believed to be because she was black.
“You have to show evidence that there is something wrong with you so you can get the medicine,” said Moore in the passionate video. “I defend, and maintain, that if I were white, I wouldn’t have to go through this.”
Several of his colleagues on social media agreed.
“These are the issues that we face, because we give up so much to care for patients, even in a dangerous way, and when we meet as patients, we are disrespected, devalued and fired”, Dr. Omolara Uwemedimo tweeted. “It cost Dr. Moore her life. Her medical degree did not save her from the racism she endured while fighting for her life.”
In an opinion article published in The Washington Post, four advocates of racial justice in health care said that Cooper’s death resulted from a biased system.
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“As well-intentioned as our health system may be, it did not eradicate the false idea of a hierarchy of human valuation based on skin color and the false idea that, if there were such a hierarchy, ‘white’ people would be at the top, “said the article by Dr. Aletha Maybank, director of health actions at the American Medical Association; Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, family doctor, epidemiologist and former president of the American Public Health Association; Dr. Uché Blackstock, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity; and Dr. Joia Crear Perry, president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative.
Moore said that during his stay, his doctor was not receptive to his concerns and routinely minimized his pain. Only after she underwent a CT scan, which allowed hospital staff to see Moore’s lungs on her own, did the doctor agree to prescribe the narcotics she needed, Moore said.
In the Facebook post, which she kept up to date, Moore reported her discharge from the hospital, her return home and her condition worsening.
“I stayed at home for less than 12 hours. I raised the temperature to 103 and my blood pressure dropped to 80/60 with a heart rate of 132, ”wrote Moore. “I’m back at the hospital, a different hospital in São Vicente Carmel.”
Moore said she was diagnosed with pneumonia, but that she was receiving “compassionate care” and the pain medication she needed at her new hospital.
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In his latest update, Moore said he was being transferred to intensive care. She died on December 20, according to the press.
A spokesman for Indiana University Health North declined to comment on Moore’s allegations specifically, but said: “We are very sad to hear of his passing” and shared the following statement on behalf of the hospital:
“IU North respects and defends patient privacy and cannot comment on a specific patient, his medical history or conditions. As an organization committed to equity and the reduction of racial disparities in health, we take allegations of discrimination very seriously. and we investigate all claims. Treatment options are often agreed upon and reviewed by medical specialists from a variety of specialties, and we uphold the commitment and experience of our caregivers and the quality of care provided to our patients every day. “