I will not jump the gun and say this was racially motivated or racial discrimination, nonetheless, this is a tragic story that is frustrating to conceive that it has happened. I don’t believe that this is just a one-off case because Dr. Susan Moore’s story is a tragedy that could have been prevented as it almost happened to a close family member of mine. If it weren’t for the tremendous help of my cousin who practices medicine while also working at hospitals during this pandemic, someone dear to many and myself could have easily died in the same way Dr. Moore has.
My cousin working at hospitals reinforced my beliefs and raised my suspicion of something that bugged me for a while the issues that persist within certain hospitals and of course other institutions within society. Dare I say it, the healthcare system is corrupt and that includes some of the hospitals. Not only that, these hospitals are poisoned by some of the people in positions of power running them. I’ll be honest, I don’t know how the medical system is run, as I have never worked at a hospital. However, one can always have conversations with people who are there or do interviews or just plain research more about it. I don’t know if they do the best job they can in all and every hospital across the richest country which is The United States. You would think that the richest country would have the best healthcare system. There are reasons why we lag behind other countries in education and healthcare and I’m sure in other categories. It’s an embarrassment that we have the highest covid-19 cases with 365,664 deaths while the second highest is India with 150,151 deaths as of this day, January 6th, 2021. It becomes even more shocking when you realize the U.S. population is only 329,877,505 according to http://www.census.gov. making it third place out of all countries. India on the other hand, is in second place, with a whopping 1,325,349,639 people (let’s not forget those who are not counted in the United States: e.g. immigrants).
How did the U.S. surpass India in COVID-19-related deaths when the U.S. has far fewer people? There are reasons to suspect that other related deaths are being counted into it, but I don’t think it is happening to a large degree. If other deaths are being counted into COVID-19, perhaps they would still be too minimal to the actual total of deaths of the virus. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
My main argument is related to the tragic story of a patient whose death could have been prevented to prevent another one from happening in this way. Will this be the time when economists, politicians, doctors, and people (whoever) can come and work together to find a solution to the healthcare system? At least they can do it to tweak it or improve it. After all of these years, it took a pandemic to expose many of the issues of society, which include the government and the healthcare system.
There is no denying that this pandemic has been difficult for many people, especially the medical staff, the nurses, and the doctors, each of whom has my deepest sympathies because they are stressed and have to deal with it all on the front lines. This goes to show that no amount of schooling or training can prepare nurses and doctors for a phenomenon like a pandemic. What are the psychological implications? In the same way, no amount of training can prepare most soldiers for war, which is the reason why many of them get PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder). I understand the medical staff are doing the best they can and they may be suffering from similar things as it is their job and duty, but my gripe is that there are some issues with the way hospitals are being managed or run that are letting people die in a manner of which could have been avoided.
Imagine you are begging and pleading to a hospital at an emergency room that you are sick and then they deny you entry because there is no proof of sickness, or you may look fine and don’t look like you’re dying. Please, if you can imagine you have to contact your medical insurance for approval in the middle of you fighting for your life because hospitals must fill out the paperwork rather than just treating you. What kind of backward thinking is going on where putting one’s information in the computer system is of the utmost importance, or making sure one has the proper insurance, instead of saving the person’s life or taking care of them. I get that information is important and this is why there are records upon medical records, they have workers for that to handle and they juggle both tasks of insurance and taking care of the patients.
Yet, there is something that doesn’t sit right with me here. I usually give this advice in a joking fashion when dealing with doctors where you have to fake that you are severely sick, badly injured, or dying to receive the proper medical treatment. This is why I distrust many authorities like doctors, who I know may not know everything there is to know about their practice. I am aware it is not a healthy mindset to distrust all authorities because there are a few of those in these positions of power like a doctor who have compassion, who actually care about morals and ethics like the Hippocratic Oath that they are obligated to take. Dr Fauci was in a position of power and screwed up at the beginning of the pandemic but he redeemed himself by admitting to his mistakes. I do believe there is some morality in most of these medical professionals like Dr. Fauci, where the Hippocratic oath includes: “First, do no harm.” According to this article, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/hippocratic-oath-today/
“Some physicians claim what they call the “Hypocritic Oath” should be radically modified or abandoned. Altogether.”
I’m all for radical ideas, aside from having the cautious attitude of implementing them. There is some truth here of the hypocrisy that engulfs doctors who take this oath. Some of these doctors see the hypocrisy, but what can be done for there not be hypocrisy in this modern ritual when they take their oath. How does society embed within all doctors and nurses at least a part of what this oath is all about into their moral fabric? What is the hiring process like? Or, what is needed to help or improve nurses and doctors?
Dr. Susan Moore in her own words said, “You have to show proof in order to receive medicine.” She knows the medical profession as much as anyone in that hospital, yet was treated wrongly and it is upsetting to witness this injustice. I hope there was no racial bias in Dr. Moore’s story, I do hope that something can be done to understand this case better, and hope that I am wrong for assuming the worst in some of these authority figures.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to injustice everywhere.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
It all boils down to morals & ethics. It is unethical to let people die who could have been saved and lived longer if they were only being taken care of if the doctors/nurses listened, and if the patient’s requests were taken more seriously. What is going on inside the hospitals that is not shown in the media? There should be third-party research going on to see how hospitals are being managed, and research being done on what this pandemic is like to find insights to better deal with the next one. And if it’s fear that consumes many of the medical staff to take the necessary action, imagine how soldiers feel when they have to sacrifice their lives for the country. I’m not an advocate of war, as I take into consideration the unnecessary deaths of innocent bystanders and slightly a pessimistic view of killing in general, but I’m not as naive to know the many flaws of people that start these quarrels. I use this comparison of soldiers because most of them are thinking of others before themselves, putting their lives at risk which at times is necessary to defeat evil.
This is what a profession like doctors should encompass, the idea of putting others before yourself, even at your own risk. Nothing can really top the action of sacrificing for another human being. In other words, this is the ultimate ideal person that hopefully one’s sacrifice or compassionate action does not lead to one’s own death. History shows us evidence that there were people who have died for mankind’s sake. I recommend learning of the story of the scientist Nikolai Vavilov and his brave scientists who are the very reasons you and I have a meal today. In the same way, another example can be those who believe in Christianity, who acknowledge Jesus sacrificed his life for one’s sins. As someone who is agnostic and appreciates all the various religions and traditional philosophies around the world, I believe it doesn’t take a genius to realize that Jesus Christ was and continues to be a symbol or if not, one of the most empathetic person that ever walked planet Earth.
This reminds me of the dilemma brought up by philosopher Alan Watts, with the whole policing situation and who’s holding them accountable? In other words, who’s policing the police? The policing dilemma begs the question, do you think the police will hold themselves accountable? Do people hold themselves accountable? The pandemic begs the question of who’s doctoring the doctors, who’s nursing the nurses, and so forth. Surely, one can think that the doctors can nurse themselves and still that takes a very strong-minded individual as well as the other problem of it not being entirely practical. Could doctors operate on themselves? Not for everything such as some certain surgeries. What we are left with is, that one possible solution is for many of them who will need counseling and healing from others or whatever therapeutic hobbies they need to throw themselves into. We need to find solutions to add morality into institutions like hospitals and add a culture that they will never feel disappointed or not willing to feel good doing their work. Whatever solution they have to solve these problems such as what happened to Dr. Susan Moore, I argue is not enough because it is only a patch of a much larger issue. Do the nurses need to take a creed as well? Why are certain rules implemented that limit the amount of contact between patients in a pandemic? Is there no workaround to help Dr. Susan Moore, and to prevent doctors and nurses from contracting the virus? Perhaps in the future, robots will be the solution to this dilemma and replace nurses because robots can’t get sick of the virus. I don’t want to be in a world where robots replace all doctors and nurses, however, if robots can be taught morals and ethics than a nurse or a doctor, then so be it.
The fruitful traditions and religions passed down teach us to show and give compassion. Being kind to each other goes a long way and it is probably the only reason we didn’t manage to blow ourselves up yet in a nuclear holocaust (fingers crossed it won’t happen). Love thy neighbor, and love thy enemy, these teachings will sustain the fate of mankind. We can learn from a pandemic, we can learn from our mistakes, we can learn from each other, we can imitate goodwill, and honor those who have sacrificed their lives for humanity. Those who sacrificed their lives for the greater good or for mankind are the true heroes in this story of the journey of humanity. What better way is there to honor them, what better way to continue their legacy than by emulating these heroes, all the while living the hero’s journey.
RIP DR. Susan Moore, for your story at the hospital, will never be forgotten.
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