Death of Susan Moore explained

On December 20, 2020, American physician Susan Grace Moore (born October 2, 1968) died in Carmel, Indiana, from complications related to COVID-19.[1] In the weeks preceding her death, Moore, who was Black, had shared concerns that her symptoms were not being taken seriously by white medical professionals.[2]

Life

Susan Grace Moore was born in Jamaica on October 2, 1968.[3] She had a degree in engineering from Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. She worked for 3M as an industrial engineer for almost ten years before returning to school.[4] She was a 2002 graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School.[5] Moore was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.[6] Moore worked as a family physician in Carmel, Indiana.[7] Her close family included her nineteen-year old son, Henry Muhammed, and her elderly parents, both of whom she cared for at the time of her death, since they were living with dementia.

Treatment for COVID-19

Admission to Indiana University Health North Hospital

Moore tested positive for COVID-19 on November 29, 2020, and was admitted to IU Health North Hospital for care.[8] On December 4, 2020 she shared a video to Facebook, in which she described how white doctors refused her pain medication, which she said "...made me feel like I was a drug addict". She also recalled begging for treatment with the anti-viral drug remdesivir, used to treat COVID-19 patients not on a ventilator,[9] in addition to begging for a CT scan. She reported that a white doctor said, “You’re not even short of breath”, although she was at the time. In the video she stated that: “I put forth and maintain, if I was white, I wouldn’t have to go through that .. This is how Black people get killed, when you send them home, and they don’t know how to fight for themselves.”[10]

On December 7, 2020, Moore was discharged from IUHNH.

Admission to Ascension-St. Vincent Hospital

However just twelve hours later, she was re-admitted to hospital, this time to Ascension-St. Vincent Hospital. There she experienced improved medical treatment, according to her Facebook posts. Her final Facebook post read that she was being transferred to an intensive care unit.[11] On December 10, 2020, she was intubated.

Death

Moore died at Ascension-St. Vincent Hospital in Carmel on December 20, 2020.

Aftermath

Moore's death is viewed by some as an example of medical racism, where her race was a defining factor in how she was perceived and the treatment she was given.[12]

In their statement after Moore's death the African American Policy Forum stated that "systemic forms of racism .. construct a reality wherein women like Dr. Moore can be stereotyped as an addict simply because they request the medication necessary to treat the excruciatingly painful side effects of a lethal disease. Here racism and sexism served to typecast Dr. Moore as someone who could be deemed unruly, intimidating, and untrustworthy at perhaps the most vulnerable moment of her life."[13]

In the period of the COVID-19 pandemic when vaccinations began and the history of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was frequently cited as the reason for vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans, Moore was invoked as a counter-example of present-day racism that poses obstacles to accessing health care and erodes trust in it.[14] [15] [16]

Notes and References

  1. News: Eligon . John . Black Doctor Dies of Covid-19 After Complaining of Racist Treatment . April 10, 2021 . The New York Times . December 24, 2020.
  2. Web site: CNN. December 26, 2020. Black Indiana doctor died of coronavirus weeks after accusing hospital of racist treatment. April 11, 2021. ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. en.
  3. Web site: Susan Grace (Moore) Moore Obituary 2020 . 2024-04-17 . Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Mortuary . en.
  4. Web site: Black Doctor Dies of COVID After Alleging Subpar Treatment . 2022-06-27 . Medscape . en.
  5. News: Maybank. Aletha. Jones. Camara Phyllis. Blackstock. Uché. Perry. Joia Crear. December 26, 2020. Opinion: Say her name: Dr. Susan Moore. live. April 14, 2021. Washington Post. https://web.archive.org/web/20201227013642/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/26/say-her-name-dr-susan-moore/ . December 27, 2020 .
  6. Web site: AAPF . 2021-02-11 . AAPF Statement on the Death of Dr. Susan Moore . 2022-06-27 . AAPF . en.
  7. Web site: AAPF . 2021-01-15 . Black Physician's COVID Death Underscores Health Disparities . 2023-01-18 . AAPF . en.
  8. Web site: Mack. Justin L.. Dr. Susan Moore: What we know about the Black doctor's claims of racism at Carmel hospital. April 11, 2021. The Indianapolis Star. en-US.
  9. Web site: Andone. Dakin. December 25, 2020. A Black doctor died of Covid-19 weeks after accusing hospital staff of racist treatment. live. April 11, 2021. CNN. https://web.archive.org/web/20201225043626/https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/24/us/black-doctor-susan-moore-covid-19/index.html . December 25, 2020 .
  10. Web site: agencies. Guardian staff and. December 26, 2020. Black doctor's death becomes a symbol of racism in coronavirus care. April 11, 2021. The Guardian. en.
  11. Web site: Watts. Amanda. Hanna. Jason. January 8, 2021. Indiana health system says experts will examine Covid-19 death of Black doctor who accused staff of racist treatment. live. April 11, 2021. CNN. https://web.archive.org/web/20210108202923/https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/us/black-doctor-susan-moore-covid/index.html . January 8, 2021 .
  12. News: Nirappil. Fenit. A Black doctor alleged racist treatment before dying of covid-19: 'This is how Black people get killed'. en-US. Washington Post. April 13, 2021. 0190-8286.
  13. Web site: AAPF. February 11, 2021. AAPF Statement on the Death of Dr. Susan Moore. April 13, 2021. AAPF. en.
  14. Web site: Dembosky. April. April 5, 2021. Stop blaming Tuskegee, critics say. It's not an 'excuse' for current medical racism -. live. April 14, 2021. KQED. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20210405201038/https://spokesman-recorder.com/2021/04/05/stop-blaming-tuskegee-critics-say-its-not-an-excuse-for-current-medical-racism/ . April 5, 2021 .
  15. Nephew. Lauren D.. February 2021. Systemic racism and overcoming my COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. eClinicalMedicine. 32. 100713. 10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100713. 2589-5370. 7816611. 33495751.
  16. Bajaj. Simar Singh. Stanford. Fatima Cody. February 4, 2021. Beyond Tuskegee — Vaccine Distrust and Everyday Racism. New England Journal of Medicine. 384. 5. e12. 10.1056/NEJMpv2035827. 0028-4793. 33471971. 9908408 . free.

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