The death of Covid-19 this month from a black doctor who said she had to beg for proper medical care and be discharged from a hospital prematurely underscores the prejudice that black people, especially black women, experience in the US health care system, numerous doctors and said others and expressed indignation.
The woman, dr. Susan Moore, 52, of Indianapolis, said she tested positive for Covid-19 on Nov. 29 and was admitted to Indiana University Health North Hospital. She documented her tumultuous stay in a Dec. 4 Facebook post that recorded videos of her hospital bed. The video, which was about 7 minutes long, set out her complaints and dissatisfaction with her treatment, which she believes is because she was black.
“You have to prove you’re wrong to get the medicine,” Moore said in the passionate video. “I said, and I maintain that if I were white, I would not have to do it.”
A number of her peers on social media agree.
“These are the problems we face, as we give up so much to care for patients, even in a bad way, and when we find ourselves as patients, we are despised, devalued and dismissed,” said Dr. Omolara Uwemedimo said. tweeted. “It cost Dr. Moore her life. Her medical degree did not save her from the racism she endured while struggling for her life.”
In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post, four proponents of racial justice in health care said Cooper’s death was the result of a biased system.
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“No matter how well-meaning our healthcare system is, it did not eradicate the false idea of a hierarchy of human valuation based on skin color and the false idea that ‘white’ people, if there was such a hierarchy, should be at the top, “said the piece by dr. Aletha Maybank, Chief Health Officer at the American Medical Association; Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, a family physician and 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 her doctor was not receptive to her concerns during her stay, and that she regularly reduced her pain. Only after she underwent a CT scan, which allows hospital staff to see Moore’s lungs for themselves, did the doctor agree to prescribe her the drugs she needed, Moore said.
In the Facebook post, which she kept abreast of, Moore chronicled her discharge from the hospital, her return home and the worsening of her condition.
“I was home for less than 12 hours. I picked a temperature of 103 and my blood pressure dropped to 80/60 with a heart rate of 132,” Moore wrote. “I’m back in the hospital, another Saint Vincent Carmel hospital.”
Moore said she had been diagnosed with pneumonia, but that she was receiving “compassionate care” and the pain medication she needed in her new hospital.
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In her latest update, Moore said she is being transferred to intensive care. According to news reports, she passed away on December 20.
An Indiana University Health North spokeswoman declined to comment specifically on Moore’s allegations, but said, “We are very sad to hear of her passing,” and shared the following statement on behalf of the hospital:
“IU North respects and upholds the privacy of patients and cannot comment on a specific patient, their medical history or conditions. As an organization committed to reducing racial diversity in healthcare, we take accusations of discrimination very seriously we review and examine each claim.Treatment options have been regularly agreed upon and evaluated by medical experts from different specialties, and we stand by the dedication and expertise of our caregivers and the quality of care provided to our patients every day. ‘