The virus — and racism — follow us into 2021
Editor’s note: New letters from you — on our web site and in Wednesday’s paper.
Two days ago, many around the world gladly said goodbye to 2020. However, each new year brings challenging issues that this country must still address — now more than ever — especially when COVID-19 has followed us into 2021. Many of us probably heard about the tragic story of Susan Moore, a licensed family physician who died on Dec. 20 from complications related to COVID-19. Two weeks earlier, the 52-year- old physician mustered up enough energy to post a viral Facebook video, discussing the medical treatment she received while a patient at the Indiana University North Hospital.
In addition to Moore’s death, what I find most disturbing is the lack of medical care she received from her fellow peers because she was a Black woman, according to the video.
While many of our hospitals offer excellent medical care, plenty of Black and Brown people could identify with Moore, having been subjected to stereotypes from medical staff and receiving dismissive treatment when they expressed legitimate concerns. Now, with COVID-19, loved ones are barred from being with family members inside the hospital to serve as their advocate.
In the video, Moore explained pleading for more pain medication because of the intense pain in her neck. Instead, the attending physician, Eric Bannec, said she didn’t need any more medication and that she wasn’t short of breath. He wanted to send her home and said he would do so on a Saturday at 10 p.m.
Moore said on the video, “Who does that?”
The doctor, including the attending nurse, by their actions, expressed insensitivity to Moore’s needs and repeatedly dismissed her concerns, knowing that she was a physician. It wasn’t until a CT scan of her neck and lungs that showed inflammation in those areas, confirming her complaints of pain and discomfort, that she was approved to receive pain medication. Yet Moore waited additional hours for the medication. And Bannec never returned to apologize for disbelieving her.
When Moore finally questioned the nurse about the pain medication, reminding him that she was a patient and asked whether he would take care of her, he snapped, she said. He responded that he had other patients and couldn’t be in her room with her every five minutes. The nurse went as far as saying that he was marching in Black Lives Matter.
What!? And he bragged about being the reason she was receiving the medication.
“Really?” Moore said. “It wasn’t the CT scan? You didn’t know about it and see it in the report?”
Also, Moore suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that affects mostly the lungs and lymph glands. Moore believed had she been White, she would have had a different experience with the medical staff.
“Being Black up in here, this is what happens. This is how black people get killed when you send them home, and they don’t know how to fight for themselves,” Moore said.
Fortunately, Moore appeared to have received better care after being transferred to Ascencion-St. Vincent. Two weeks later, she died.
Moore’s death should not be in vain. She confirmed from her hospital bed what the Black community has known for a long time: Wealth, education, profession, and 5-star health insurance does not shield them from racism, although some African Americans tend to forget. She confirmed the reasons why many Black people distrust the healthcare system.
So, now that we’ve toasted 2021, we must address with persistent urgency and sustained action racism in the health care system. We must go beyond diversity and implicit bias training.