Death of Susan Moore

Last updated

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]

Contents

Life

Susan Grace Moore was born in Jamaica on October 2, 1968. [1] [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] [1] 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, [8] and her elderly parents, both of whom she cared for at the time of her death, since they were living with dementia. [2]

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. [9] On December 4, 2020 she shared a video to Facebook, [2] in which she described how white doctors refused her pain medication, which she said "...made me feel like I was a drug addict". [9] She also recalled begging for treatment with the anti-viral drug remdesivir, used to treat COVID-19 patients not on a ventilator, [10] in addition to begging for a CT scan. [2] She reported that a white doctor said, “You’re not even short of breath”, although she was at the time. [10] 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.” [8]

On December 7, 2020, Moore was discharged from IUHNH. [9]

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. [9] Her final Facebook post read that she was being transferred to an intensive care unit. [11] On December 10, 2020, she was intubated. [1]

Death

Moore died at Ascension-St. Vincent Hospital in Carmel on December 20, 2020. [8]

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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuskegee Syphilis Study</span> 1932–1972 human experiment in Alabama, United States

The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male was a study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the United States Public Health Service (PHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on a group of nearly 400 African American men with syphilis. The purpose of the study was to observe the effects of the disease when untreated, though by the end of the study medical advancements meant it was entirely treatable. The men were not informed of the nature of the experiment, and more than 100 died as a result.

Research shows many health disparities among different racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Different outcomes in mental and physical health exist between all U.S. Census-recognized racial groups, but these differences stem from different historical and current factors, including genetics, socioeconomic factors, and racism. Research has demonstrated that numerous health care professionals show implicit bias in the way that they treat patients. Certain diseases have a higher prevalence among specific racial groups, and life expectancy also varies across groups.

Vanessa Northington Gamble is a physician who chaired the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Legacy Committee in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene Dibble</span> American physician (1893–1968)

Eugene Heriot Dibble Jr. (1893–1968) was an American physician and head of the John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He played an important role in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, which was a clinical study conducted on syphilis in African American males from 1932 to 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic</span>

The public health measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic effectively contained and reduced the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on a global scale between the years 2020–2023, and had several other positive effects on the natural environment of planet Earth and human societies as well, including improved air quality and oxygen levels due to reduced air and water pollution, lower crime rates across the world, and less frequent violent crimes perpetrated by violent non-state actors, such as ISIS and other Islamic terrorist organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnie Henry</span> Canadian public health officer

Bonnie J. Fraser Henry is a Canadian physician and public servant who has been the provincial health officer at the British Columbia Ministry of Health since 2014. Henry is also a clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia. She is a specialist in public health and preventive medicine, and is a family doctor. In her role as provincial health officer, Henry notably led the response to COVID-19 in British Columbia (BC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uché Blackstock</span> American physician (born 1977)

Uché Blackstock is an American emergency physician and former associate professor of emergency medicine at the New York University School of Medicine. She is the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, which has a primary mission to engage with healthcare and related organizations around bias and racism in healthcare with the goal of mobilizing for health equity and eradicating racialized health inequities. During the COVID-19 pandemic Blackstock used social media to share her experiences and concerns as a physician working on the front lines and on racial health disparities and inequities exposed by the pandemic. She is best known for her work amplifying the message on racial health inequities and her media appearances speaking on the COVID-19 pandemic. Blackstock became a Yahoo! News Medical Contributor in June 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">America's Frontline Doctors</span> Right wing, anti-science political group

America's Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) is an American right-wing political organization. Affiliated with Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin and publicly led by Simone Gold, the group is opposed to measures intended to control the COVID-19 pandemic, such as business closures, stay-at-home orders, and vaccination. The group promotes falsehoods about the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccines.

Black maternal mortality in the United States refers to the death of women, specifically those who identify as Black or African American, during or after child delivery. In general, maternal death can be due to a myriad of factors, such as the nature of the pregnancy or the delivery itself, but is not associated with unintentional or secondary causes. In the United States, around 700 women die from pregnancy-related illnesses or complications per year. This number does not include the approximately 50,000 women who experience life-threatening complications during childbirth, resulting in lifelong disabilities and complications. However, there are stark differences in maternal mortality rates for Black American women versus Indigenous American, Alaska Native, and White American women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rochelle Walensky</span> American medical scientist (born 1969)

Rochelle Paula Walensky is an American physician-scientist who served as the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2021 to 2023 and had also served as the administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in her capacity as the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2021 to 2023. On May 5, 2023, she announced her resignation, effective June 30, 2023. Prior to her appointment at the CDC, she had served as the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Walensky is an expert on HIV/AIDS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simone Gold</span> American anti-vaccine activist and founder of Americas Frontline Doctors

Simone Melissa Gold is an American doctor and anti-vaccine activist. She is the founder of America's Frontline Doctors, a right-wing political organization known for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. Before her arrest and guilty plea for participating in the 2021 United States Capitol attack, she had gained attention when a video of an America's Frontline Doctors press conference in front of the US Supreme Court Building went viral in July 2020. During the press conference, she touted the supposed benefits of hydroxychloroquine, despite evidence that it is ineffective as a COVID-19 treatment and can carry significant risks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Kory</span> American physician

Pierre Kory is an American critical care physician who gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for advocating widespread off-label use of certain drugs as treatments for COVID-19, as president and co-founder of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC). Kory testified twice to the U.S. Senate regarding COVID-19. During his testimony in December 2020, Kory erroneously claimed that the antiparasitic medication ivermectin was a "wonder drug" with "miraculous effectiveness" against COVID-19.

Medical Racism: The New Apartheid is a 2021 video production that promotes conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines. Distributed by the anti-vaccination group Children's Health Defense, it alleges the COVID-19 vaccination efforts are a cover to conduct experiments on the African American and Latin communities. Public health communication experts say the video presents past injustices committed against African Americans in order to make debunked anti-vaccination claims more believable.

Chaniece Wallace, a black woman and physician, died at 30 years of age from complications of pregnancy two days after the birth of her daughter. Her death is seen as preventable and is viewed in the context of high rates of maternal mortality in the United States, particularly among the African American population. It is cited as an example in medical and scholarly publications to call for improved health outcomes in the black U.S. population. Wallace died despite several factors seen as protective: she was "highly educated, employed as a health care practitioner, had access to health care, and had a supportive family." Wallace was a fourth year pediatric chief resident at the Indiana University School of Medicine and was working at Riley Children's Health Hospital at the time of her death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the United States</span> Reluctance by those living in the USA to be vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the United States is the sociocultural phenomenon of individuals refusing or displaying hesitance towards receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the United States can be considered as part of the broader history of vaccine hesitancy.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitals became severe for some hospital systems of the United States in the spring of 2020, a few months after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Some had started to run out of beds, along with having shortages of nurses and doctors. By November 2020, with 13 million cases so far, hospitals throughout the country had been overwhelmed with record numbers of COVID-19 patients. Nursing students had to fill in on an emergency basis, and field hospitals were set up to handle the overflow.

Jasmine Y. Zapata is an American physician and epidemiologist. She is the chief medical officer and state epidemiologist for community health at Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Her career includes work as a pediatrician, public health researcher, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin, author, and her support for youth empowerment with a variety of initiatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ala Stanford</span> American pediatric surgeon

Ala Stanford is an American pediatric surgeon. She is the founder of R.E.A.L. Concierge Medicine and the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium. She is also the first African-American female pediatric surgeon to be trained entirely in the United States.

This timeline includes entries on the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. This includes investigations into the origin of COVID-19, and the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 which is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. Social media apps and platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, and YouTube, have contributed to the spread of misinformation. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) reported that conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 began on "day one". CAHN reported on March 16, 2020, that far-right groups in Canada were taking advantage of the climate of anxiety and fear surrounding COVID, to recycle variations of conspiracies from the 1990s, that people had shared over shortwave radio. COVID-19 disinformation is intentional and seeks to create uncertainty and confusion. But most of the misinformation is shared online unintentionally by enthusiastic participants who are politically active.

Zipporah Parks Hammond (1924–2011) was the University of Colorado College of Nursing's first African-American graduate and the first Black Director of Medical Records in Colorado. She was a humanitarian, philanthropist, and civil-rights champion in Colorado.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Eligon, John (December 24, 2020). "Black Doctor Dies of Covid-19 After Complaining of Racist Treatment". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 CNN (December 26, 2020). "Black Indiana doctor died of coronavirus weeks after accusing hospital of racist treatment". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. Retrieved April 11, 2021.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  3. ↑ "Susan Grace (Moore) Moore Obituary 2020". Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Mortuary. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Black Doctor Dies of COVID After Alleging Subpar Treatment". Medscape. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  5. ↑ Maybank, Aletha; Jones, Camara Phyllis; Blackstock, Uché; Perry, Joia Crear (December 26, 2020). "Opinion: Say her name: Dr. Susan Moore". Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  6. ↑ AAPF (February 11, 2021). "AAPF Statement on the Death of Dr. Susan Moore". AAPF. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  7. ↑ AAPF (January 15, 2021). "Black Physician's COVID Death Underscores Health Disparities". AAPF. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 agencies, Guardian staff and (December 26, 2020). "Black doctor's death becomes a symbol of racism in coronavirus care". The Guardian. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Mack, Justin L. "Dr. Susan Moore: What we know about the Black doctor's claims of racism at Carmel hospital". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  10. 1 2 Andone, Dakin (December 25, 2020). "A Black doctor died of Covid-19 weeks after accusing hospital staff of racist treatment". CNN. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  11. ↑ 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". CNN. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  12. ↑ Nirappil, Fenit. "A Black doctor alleged racist treatment before dying of covid-19: 'This is how Black people get killed'". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  13. ↑ AAPF (February 11, 2021). "AAPF Statement on the Death of Dr. Susan Moore". AAPF. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  14. ↑ Dembosky, April (April 5, 2021). "Stop blaming Tuskegee, critics say. It's not an 'excuse' for current medical racism -". KQED. Archived from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  15. ↑ Nephew, Lauren D. (February 2021). "Systemic racism and overcoming my COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy". eClinicalMedicine. 32: 100713. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100713. ISSN   2589-5370. PMC   7816611 . PMID   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. doi: 10.1056/NEJMpv2035827 . ISSN   0028-4793. PMC   9908408 . PMID   33471971.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.