COVID-19: Black doctor dies weeks after accusing hospital staff of racist treatment

A 52-year-old Black Physician, Dr. Susan Moore, recently died of coronavirus weeks after she described a White doctor dismissed her concerns about her treatment as she lay in an Indiana hospital. While taking to social media, Moore had uploaded a video alleging her battle with the deadly virus was made worse by the treatment she received from a doctor at Indiana University Health North Hospital (IU North). She had claimed that a physician treating her repeatedly ignored her complaints that she was in excruciating pain, and wanted to send her home. 

While speaking to New York Times, her son said that his mother passed away on December 20. In the clip, Susan filmed herself from the hospital bed after her experience at IU North. She said that her doctor brushed off her symptoms, telling her, “You’re not even short of breath”. She even claimed that she had to beg to receive remdesivir, the antiviral drug used to treat patients who are hospitalised for COVID-19 and are not in need of mechanical ventilation. 

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Susan said, “This is how Black people get killed. When you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves. I had to talk to somebody maybe the media, to let people know how I’m being treated up in this place”. 

“I put forth, and I maintain, if I was white, I wouldn't have to go through that,” she added. 

Susan’s case has now highlighted a concern health-care advocates say has been exposed by the pandemic. Several studies have already shown that Black people have been disproportionately affected and have died from coronavirus more than their White counterparts. According to CNN, studies have also shown that Black patients are in some situations prescribed less pain medication than their White counterparts. 

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Hospital calls for external review 

Following Susan’s demise, a spokesman for IU North also confirmed to the media outlet that the 520year-old was a patient at the hospital that she was eventually discharged. The spokesman said that as an organisation committed to equity and reducing racial disparities in healthcare, the officials take the accusations of discrimination very seriously and investigate every allegation. 

In a separate statement, Dennis M. Murphy, President and CEO of Indiana University Health, also defended the technical aspects of the treatment Moore received. However, he also conceded that “we may not have shown the level of compassion and respect we strive for in understanding what matters most to patients”. 

He added, “Dr. Moore’s public sharing of her experience is a sentinel moment to accelerate our forward movement. This tragedy will not become a statistic in the COVID-19 crisis and it will serve as a marker of material improvements for patients of color”. Further, he also asked for an external review of the case. 

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