Black Doctor Dies Of Coronavirus After Alleging Racist Treatment At Carmel Hospital

A Black doctor who died of coronavirus after weeks of battling the virus said she was mistreated and delayed proper care at a Carmel hospital because of her race.

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In response, the president and CEO of the health system that stands accused is calling for an external review of the late doctor's experience.

Dr. Susan Moore, 52, died Dec. 20 following multiple hospitalizations for complications from COVID-19, first at IU Health North and later at Ascencion-St. Vincent in Carmel.

Her frustrations with the care provided at IU Health were chronicled on Facebook in multiple updates. The first came Dec. 4, when she said delays in her treatment and diagnosis were motivated by the color of her skin.

In a 7 ½-minute video posted to her Facebook page, Moore described frustrating back-and-forths with Dr. Eric Bannec, a white hospitalist with the IU Health system.

She described having her complaints of severe neck pain disregarded, despite drawing from her years of medical expertise to make a self-assessment.

"I was crushed," a tearful Moore said of Bannec's refusal to provide her pain medication. "He made me feel like I was a drug addict. And he knew I was a physician. I don't take narcotics. I was hurting."

She said she had to plead with and convince her physician she was having trouble breathing before receiving a CT scan. When the scan revealed that what she was saying was true, she was given medication to manage her pain. But only after hours of waiting.

“I put forth and I maintain," she said in the video, "if I was white, I wouldn’t have to go through that.”

From her hospital bed, Moore, who is remembered as someone who loved helping others, said she was speaking out so that the treatment she endured would not be overlooked.

“This is how Black people get killed, when you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves,” she said into the camera. “I had to talk to somebody, maybe the media, somebody, to let people know how I’m being treated up in this place.”

After being sent home, Moore was back in a hospital bed within 12 hours, according to her Facebook updates. This time she was being treated at Ascencion-St. Vincent in Carmel, and was experiencing better care.

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Shortly after being discharged from IU Health on Dec. 7, Moore said she experienced a spike in temperature and a drop in her blood pressure.

"Those people were trying to kill me. Clearly everyone has to agree they (discharged) me way too soon," she wrote of IU Health before giving an assessment of her care at Ascencion-St. Vincent. "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."

Citing patient privacy, an IU Health spokesperson declined to speak specifically to the case, but shared a written statement on behalf of IU Health North:

“As an organization committed to equity and reducing racial disparities in healthcare, we take accusations of discrimination very seriously and investigate every allegation," the statement reads. "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.”

On Thursday night, IU Health President and CEO Dennis Murphy issued a statement expressing sadness over Moore's death, as well as calling for external review of the case led by a diverse panel of healthcare and diversity experts to address any potential treatment bias.

"The construct of this review is to understand how we improve on not only the technical aspects of care, but also the more humanistic elements of the patient experience," Murphy said in a statement. "The external review also can illuminate ways that we as a system can ensure we live up to our commitment to the equitable treatment of all patients."

Murphy said following preliminary medical quality review, he does not believe that his team failed the technical aspects of the delivery of Moore’s care.

"I am concerned, however, that we may not have shown the level of compassion and respect we strive for in understanding what matters most to patients," he said. "I am worried that our care team did not have the time due to the burden of this pandemic to hear and understand patient concerns and questions."

Murphy added that he has long pledged to promote racial justice and resist discrimination of any kind at IU Health, and Moore's experience reinforces his commitment to that pledge.

"None of this work was ever imagined to be easy or without visible signs of failure. The key is to learn meaningfully from each interaction and, ultimately, get better every step of the way," he said. "Dr. Moore’s words and image will stay with me every day and fuel my motivation to ensure that this organization becomes truly equitable in all dimensions. I hope it serves as a collective call to action."

IndyStar has also reached out to Bannec for comment.

Despite the change in care, Moore's condition continued to deteriorate. She died in the hospital three weeks after her Nov. 29 diagnosis.

Moore's experience and tragic death sparked outrage and sadness across social media. Many pointed to it as the latest example of racism and discrimination in health care, and part of the disproportionate toll COVID-19 has has taken on Black patients.

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It also led to an outpouring of support for the loved ones she leaves behind.

Moore is survived by her 19-year-old son and recent Carmel High School graduate, Henry Muhammed. In an interview with the New York Times, Henry said his mother was still thinking of others to the very end.

During their last conversation, Moore said she was going to help her son go to college.

According to a GoFundMe page created in her memory, Moore also leaves behind two elderly parents who suffer from dementia.

The GoFundMe effort is being organized by Alicia Sanders, a local physician who was in contact with Moore during her COVID-19 battle, and Rashad Elby, Henry's football coach at Carmel High School.

As of Friday morning, the page had generated more than $134,000 in support of Moore's family.

"Susan was a phenomenal doctor. She loved practicing medicine, she loved being a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, she loved helping people, and she was unapologetic about it," Sanders wrote in the page description.

In updates posted Tuesday and Wednesday, Elby said one of the goals is for Henry to continue his education without financial stress, just like his mother would have wanted.

He added that the young man has taken the lead in caring for his grandparents.

"For those of you not familiar with Henry and his struggles, he is a young man whose life to date is best summed as a story of obstacles, perseverance and triumph," Elby wrote. "Upon graduation, Henry enrolled at Indiana University (Bloomington) where he was going to study Biochemistry and minor in Mathematics. Because of his mother taking sick and Henry having to care for his sickly grandparents he was forced to put his schooling on hold."

Elby said the GoFundMe will help Henry and his grandparents relocate to live with family in Denver and "in true Hoosier fashion, for Henry to return to Indiana to resume his academics at Indiana University that he is so eagerly excited to do.

"Your contribution will go to a good place and help a great young man, who has experienced such disappointment, to reset his life and have a chance at a future," Elby wrote.

Moore's family told the New York Times that she was Born in Jamaica but grew up in Michigan. She studied engineering at Kettering University and earned her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School, according to her family.

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