A doctor in Indiana died of COVID-19 complications just weeks after reporting racist assault on behalf of the hospital.
The New York Times reports that Dr. Susan Moore, a black physician, was denied adequate care and that her white male physician spoke about her pain during her admission to Indiana University North Hospital. In a now viral video posted on Facebook, Moore shared her experience, documenting her positive coronavirus diagnosis on Nov. 29, early discharge and her eventual return to hospital. She noted that she had to beg her doctor to treat her with the antiviral remdesivir and a CT scan 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 she be discharged instead. The doctor would eventually oblige, but only after medical tests revealed that Moore did indeed have new pulmonary infiltrates in her lungs that required necessary and immediate attention.
“I’ve brought up, and I’m going to insist, if I was white, I wouldn’t have to go through that,” Moore said in her video. ‘I don’t trust this hospital and I’m asking for a transfer. These people wanted to send me home with new lung infiltrates and all kinds of lymphadenopathy in my neck. This is how black people are killed. When you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves. I need to talk to someone, maybe the media, someone to let people know how I am being treated in this place. “
Unfortunately for Moore, this wasn’t the first time she had to be her own health advocate. Nor is this the first time that racial health disparities, especially what they relate to Black and brown communities and the coronavirus, are on display.
From The New York Times:
She was no stranger to the challenges of getting quality medical care, said Mr. Muhammed, her 19-year-old son. She had sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that affects the lungs, and was often treated in hospitals. “Almost every time she went to the hospital, she had to advocate for herself, fight for something, shape or form in some way, just to get the right care,” he said.
The case of Dr. Moore has sparked outrage and renewed calls to grapple with biased medical treatment of black patients. Extensive research suggests that black patients often receive treatment that is inferior to their white counterparts, especially when it comes to relieving pain. “It’s had a huge impact,” said Dr. Christina Council, a black family physician in Maryland, of Dr. Moore’s experience. “When we think of medical bias, it sometimes seems so far away. We can sit there and say, “Okay, it could happen to someone who might be poorer.” But when you actually see it happening to a co-worker and you see her in the hospital bed and literally begging for her life, then it just turns in a different direction and really hits home saying, ‘Wow, we have to do something.’ “
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Before Moore’s death, she revealed that she raised concerns to the hospital system’s chief medical officer, who then promised better care and a new doctor. Even though things started to look up, Moore still felt she wasn’t getting the best care possible. On December 7, after being discharged, she was re-admitted to another hospital less than 12 hours later, where she was treated for both bacterial pneumonia and Covid-19 pneumonia. She would eventually succumb to those complications weeks later.
A GoFundMe campaign was established to cover funeral expenses for Moore’s son and elderly parents with dementia. “Susan was a phenomenal doctor,” the campaign said. “She loved practicing medicine, she loved being a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she loved helping people, and she was not apologetic about it.”
“This fundraiser is designed to help her family with immediate needs, which are currently housing and food, as she was the sole carer for her son and parents. This page will be updated as more needs arise, including funeral expenses, relocation, and incidentals. “