Black Doctor Dies From COVID-19 Complications Weeks After Saying Hospital Mistreated Her
A Black doctor from Indiana has died from COVID-19 complications shortly after making allegations of racist treatment from the hospital.
Dr. Susan Moore, a physician from Indianapolis, died earlier this week after testing positive for the disease on Nov. 29.
On Dec. 4, she posted a video that has since gone viral, accusing the Indiana University North Hospital of not providing adequate treatment.
Her symptoms included high fever, high respiratory rate, and coughing up blood, leading to her struggles with white medical officials. She reportedly had to wait hours for pain medication.
“All I know is that I am in intense pain,” she said in the video. “[The doctor] made me feel like I was a drug addict, and he knew I was a physician.”
Moore, according to The New York Times, spoke to a patient advocate and requested to be transferred to a different hospital. She also demanded a CT scan of her chest.
See Moore’s video below:
Eventually, Moore was sent home. This came after when she had previously asked to be transferred.
“This is how Black people get killed,” she said. “When you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves.”
After she spiked a fever less than 12 hours later and her blood pressure dropped sharply, she was admitted to a new hospital to be treated for bacterial pneumonia as well as COVID-19-related pneumonia.
In a Facebook post detailing her experience at Indiana University North Hospital, Moore wrote that its chief medical officer said the staff would receive diversity training and she would also receive an apology from the doctor.
Following her death, the Indiana University North Hospital released a statement about Moore’s passing, which read, "We are very sad to hear about the death of Dr. Susan Moore and our hearts go out to her friends and family. As an organization committed to equity and reducing racial disparities in healthcare, we take accusations of discrimination very seriously and investigate every allegation.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to pay for her family’s expenses. A statement from her family read, “Susan was a phenomenal doctor. She loved practicing medicine, she loved being a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, she loved helping people, and she was unapologetic about it."
Dr. Susan Moore was only 52 years old.
