Doctors across the country have taken to social media to express outrage over the death of Dr. Susan Moore, a physician in Indianapolis who died from COVID-19 on December 20 after saying she endured racism during her hospital stay.
From a hospital bed, Moore made heart-wrenching allegations about her time at Indiana University North Hospital. She wrote on Facebook that she tested positive for COVID-19 on November 29 and began chronicling her issues with Dr. Eric Bannec.
She said he denied her additional doses of Remdesivir, a life-saving treatment for COVID-19, and told her she should go home even though she still felt ill. She said he also made a number of comments to her that she thought were disrespectful, especially as someone who is a doctor.
From a CT scan, doctors saw that Moore had enlarged lymph nodes, fluid and infiltration in her lungs, so they gave her two doses of Remdesivir. But when she asked for another, Bannec said she no longer qualified and threatened to send her home.
"I had to beg to get the Remdesivir because Dr. Bannec said my chest x-ray was normal. I then had to beg for a CT of my chest which I finally got and it showed large mediastinal lymphadenopathy right lower lobe infiltrate in a new left lower lobe infiltrate," the doctor wrote on Facebook.
"After receiving two infusions of the Remdesivir dr. Bannec said I don’t qualify, I’m not short of breath, he doesn’t know why my neck hurts and he doesn’t feel comfortable giving me any narcotics. All I can do is cry I was in so much pain. He said you can just go home right now. Of note he did not even listen to my lungs he didn’t touch me in any way. He performed no physical exam. I told him you cannot tell me how I feel," she added.
She also said doctors were not providing her with pain medication.
"Why do I have to prove that there’s something wrong with me in order for my pain to be treated. I have informed the patient advocate," she continued in the post.
“Now, that is not how you treat patients, period. So, I don’t trust this hospital, and I’m asking to be transferred,” she said in a video post. “This is how Black people get killed. When you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves.”
She continued to update her Facebook posts through the days with more worrying messages about how she was being treated.
She said Bannec had a bad reputation "dating as far back as three years," and that the hospital responded to her complaints by bringing in two Black nurses from the hospital in downtown Indianapolis.
But she still contacted the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the IU Medical healthcare system and added that she was worried about the care she was receiving from the doctors.
"I am so scared please give me some advice on how to proceed," she wrote on Facebook.
Her complaints reached the highest levels of the hospital and she was eventually provided with the proper treatment for a few days. In one note she said the hospital's CMO told her they were planning to do more "diversity training" and that they were trying to get Bannec to apologize to her.
But she still reported being short of breath and feeling weak.
After a few days, she was released. But she sent out another update saying that within 12 hours of getting home, she felt sick again.
"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 discharge 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," she wrote.
Her last message read that she was being given oxygen and was being transferred to the ICU.
The story caused shockwaves among many doctors, who took to social media to call out the horror of Moore's death.
3 weeks after her diagnosis, she is no longer with us and one can't help but wonder whether the outcome would've been different, if she did not undergo repeated delays in care that were undoubtedly due to her being a Black woman, and the lack of respect & trust that we often face
— Dr. Omolara Uwemedimo MD, MPH (@DrOmolara) December 22, 2020
"These are the issues we face, as we give up so much to take care of patients, even in harm's way, and when we find ourselves as patients, we are disrespected, devalued & dismissed. It cost Dr. Moore her life. Her medical degree did not save her from the racism that she endured while battling for her life," Dr. Omolara Uwemedimo wrote on Twitter.
"I pray that we learn from this tragedy, that we have seen far too many times before COVID and to this day," she continued. "We must do better for Black women. Believe us. Trust us. Respect us."
So very sad to see this. Dr. Moore was in my medical school class @UMichAdmissions. She was kind, hard working, brilliant, and generous. Really saddened by this. https://t.co/mxbXCn2fRj
— Vidya Kumar Ramanathan, MD MPH (@RamanathanVidya) December 22, 2020
She was in pain and ignored
Fellow docs got her into another hospital…
It was too late..
She passed away today
The system failed her.
It failed us…
Anyone want to guess the race of this doctor?— Dr. Carmen Brown (@AutismDrMom) December 22, 2020
Dr. Susan Moore died today from COVID, but HOW she died is unacceptable. She posted a video to Facebook from an Indiana hospital days before her death about mistreatment. "This is how black people get killed when you send them home and they don't know how to fight for themselves" https://t.co/iSF8rs7qmI
pic.twitter.com/3a8qE6DhN3— Cleavon MD (@Cleavon_MD) December 22, 2020
My first cousin Dr. Susan Moore passed away with Covid-19 on December 20th leaving a 19-year-old son behind. These are her words prior to her death. #racisminmedicine
#BlackDoctorsMatter
#BiasinMedicine
https://t.co/w3tLPk1NmJ— Taunya Henderson (@taunyatweets) December 22, 2020
It is so hard to watch this video from our @umich medical school classmate.
Rest In Peace Dr. Susan Moore… we must all pay attention and make this better https://t.co/bOeJiMxPkQ— helen kang morgan (@helenjkmorgan) December 22, 2020
Yet, another Black female physician has died and yes, she was my soror. This is beyond shameful. Dr. Moore died in the same state as Dr. Chaniece Wallace. What the hell is going on in the state of Indiana? @IU_Health
#BlackTwitter
#medtwitter
https://t.co/R7EHeGBGep— Dr. Linda Online (@drlindaobgyn) December 22, 2020
Especially disheartened to hear of the passing of our colleague Dr. Susan Moore. May she Rest In Peace and Power as we continue to eliminate racism and injustice in medicine @NationalMedAssn
@McDougle2020
@DrRachelSays
https://t.co/rhbznKJu9d— Camille A. Clare MD MPH (@cclareMDMPH) December 22, 2020
Moore was a beloved doctor, mother and daughter, who was raising a 19-year-old and supporting her two parents who have dementia, according to a GoFundMe page created by the family.
Her cousin, Taunya Henderson, wrote on Facebook that their families immigrated from Jamaica in the early 70s.
"Susan dedicated her life to medicine and healing others. Susan was both an engineer and a doctor. She graduated from Kettering with a B.S. in Engineering and she graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School. For those of you in Lansing, she graduated from Sexton High School class of 1986. She was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority," Henderson wrote. "
"This is a HUGE loss," she added.