Dr. Susan Moore has died after detailing what she described as the mistreatment that she received because she was Black in physicians’ hands while in the hospital battling COVID-19.
Moore passed away on Sunday, December 20, due to coronavirus complications — she was 52 years old. The Indiana doctor had taken to Facebook on multiple occasions to share how the experts, who were supposed to care for her, failed.
In a viral video that was posted on Facebook and later shared on Instagram, Dr. Moore revealed that she had been battling the novel coronavirus for several weeks.
Dr. Moore revealed that she was admitted to the Indiana University North Hospital weeks after saying she was mistreated.
In the clip, the late physician was very emotional as she confessed to being in terrible pain during the hospital stay and being neglected when she pleaded for help.
The health expert said the medical staff did not listen to her concerns because of her skin color. As an experienced doctor, Moore was aware of what was wrong with her — but no one would listen.
For example — she knew that the infection was creating damage to the walls and linings of the air sacs in her lungs, but doctors refused to give her adequate treatment.
Instead, the doctors discharged her, and 12 hours later, she fell ill again and was rushed back to the hospital. Moore said that the doctors finally ran some tests that confirmed that she was right all along.
She confessed: “I put forth, and I maintain, if I was White, I wouldn’t have to go through that. And that man never came back and apologized. I don’t trust this hospital, and I’m asking to be transferred. These people wanted to send me home with new pulmonary infiltrates and all kind of lymphadenopathy in my neck. This is how Black people get killed. When you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves. I have to talk to somebody, maybe the media, somebody, to let people know how I’m being treated up in this place.”
In another video, she called out the hospital for trying to kill her and added: “I was home for less than 12 hours. Spiked a temperature of 103, and my blood pressure plummeted to 80/60 with a heart rate of 132. I’m back in the hospital, a different hospital Saint Vincent Carmel. Those people were trying to kill me. Clearly, everyone has to agree they discharged me way too soon. They are now treating me for a bacterial pneumonia as well as Covid pneumonia. I am getting very compassionate care. They are offering me pain medicine.”
In Moore’s final Facebook update before her death, she said that she was having difficulty breathing and was being transferred to the ICU.
The hospital responded to the racism allegations put forward by Moore with a statement read: “IU North respects and upholds patient privacy and cannot comment on a specific patient, their medical history, or conditions. As an organization committed to equity and reducing racial disparities in healthcare, we take accusations of discrimination very seriously and investigate every allegation.”
It went on to say: “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.”
According to a GoFundMe campaign set up for Moore’s funeral costs — she leaves behind a 19-year-old son and elderly parents who both suffer from dementia.
Data shows that more than 18 million people have been infected by COVID-19 in the U.S., and there have been at least 324,948 deaths related to the virus.
People of color are disproportionately more likely to die from COVID-19.
