‘This is how Black people get killed’: Doctor dies from coronavirus after posting emotional video from hospital bed claiming racist treatment

Dr Susan Moore said made to feel like a drug addict for asking for pain medication from white doctor

A Black woman who complained about racist treatment from the doctor in charge of her care has died from complications caused by the coronavirus.

Susan Moore, herself a doctor, posted an emotional video earlier this month from hospital, where she was being treated for Covid-19, in which she described being denied pain medication by the doctor.

“I was in so much pain from my neck. My neck hurt so bad. I was crushed. He made me feel like I was a drug addict, and he knew I was a physician. I don’t take narcotics. I was hurting,” the 52-year-old said from her hospital bed, as she fought to hold back tears.

“If I was white, I wouldn’t have to go through that. That man never came back and apologised,” she added.

Dr Moore shared the video on Facebook on 4 December,  five days after she was admitted to Carmel hospital in Indiana. She continued to post updates throughout her stay.

She was sent home as her condition improved, but quickly deteriorated and was readmitted soon after to a different hospital when her temperature spiked again.

“Those people were trying to kill me,” she wrote after having to return to hospital. “Clearly everyone has to agree they discharge me way too soon.”

Dr Moore died from the complications caused by the coronavirus on Sunday, a little over two weeks after the video was posted.

Her story has prompted anger from healthcare professionals and shone a light on racial inequalities in the US healthcare system in the midst of a pandemic which has disproportionately impacted people of colour.

Black Americans are nearly four times more likely to be hospitalised due to the virus and three times more likely to die than white Americans. The same is true for Hispanics and Latinos.

These inequities were identified early on in the crisis by numerous studies and attributed to racial injustice both within and outside of healthcare. Experts have noted that many people of colour work in essential industries where they are more likely to contract the virus. Those jobs are also more likely to be low-paying, which impacts access to health insurance and is linked to a higher prevalence of underlying conditions.  

What makes Dr Moore’s treatment even more egregious is that she is a physician herself: when she spoke out about the care she was receiving she was doing so as both a patient and a medical professional. On both counts, she was ignored.  

In her video she said she was forced to repeatedly justify the pain she was in, and was treated with suspicion by the white doctor treating her.

“He said ‘you don’t need it. You’re not even short of breath.’ I said ‘yes I am.’ Then he went on to say ‘you don’t qualify.’ Then he further stated: ‘you should just go home right now, I don’t feel comfortable giving you any more narcotics,’” Dr Moore recounted.

“I spoke to a patient advocate who left me wanting. So I started asking to send me to another hospital where they can treat me,” she added.

Soon after, she said the doctors performed new scans of her chest which showed she was deteriorating.

“This is how black people get killed when you send them home and they don't know how to fight for themselves,” Dr Moore said in the video.

IU North, the healthcare system which was responsible for Dr Moore’s care, said in a statement that it could not comment on a specific patient, but that it is “committed to equity and reducing racial disparities in healthcare, we take accusations of discrimination very seriously and investigate every allegation.”

“Treatment options are often agreed upon and reviewed by medical experts from a variety of specialties, and we stand by the commitment and expertise of our caregivers and the quality of care delivered to our patients every day,” it added.

Dr Moore leaves behind a 19-year-old son and two elderly parents who both suffer from dementia. Following her death, a local physician who was in contact with Dr Moore set up a fundraising page to support them.

“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,” it said.