Forty-six-year-old quadriplegic Michael Hickson died early last month in Austin, Texas, after he was diagnosed with coronavirus. The hospital in which he was staying determined he had little “quality of life” remaining before they stopped his treatment.
While driving his wife Melissa Hickson to work in 2017, Michael suffered from cardiac arrest, which gave him a brain injury and left him paralyzed. For three years, he had been in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation centers. As a Black man who faced serious health concerns, Hickson was a victim to a healthcare system that failed to ensure and protect the safety and well-being of Black and brown bodies.
On May 15, Mrs. Hickson was notified that her husband was asymptomatic but tested positive for coronavirus. While residing at Brush County, a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Austin, Hickson was infected by a staff member. Ten days later, Mrs. Hickson was told that her husband tested negative.
On June 2, Mrs. Hickson was informed that her husband was admitted to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, as he had a low-grade fever and was experiencing coughing and trouble breathing. A day later, he was transferred to the hospital’s intensive-care unit.
The hospital allowed Mrs. Hickson to visit her husband but was not allowed to enter the room and had to speak to him through a FaceTime call. The doctor was recorded speaking to Mrs. Hickson, explaining that he believed Hickson no longer possessed a “quality of life.”
“Because he’s paralyzed with a brain injury he doesn’t have a quality of life?” Mrs. Hickson asked.
“Correct,” the doctor said in response.
On June 6, Mrs. Hickson was informed that her husband was breathing on his own and was in a stable condition. He was to be moved from the ICU and a hospice representative would be in contact with her shortly.
Mrs. Hickson was given two varying accounts. She was told by the hospice representative that Hickson would be resuscitated and then receive nutrition and fluids. However, she was told by a hospital nurse that her husband would receive no nutrients or fluids and would not be resuscitated.
For six days, Hickson was withheld treatment, nutrition and fluids, until he died. Mrs. Hickson pleaded with his caretakers to restart his treatment, but they refused.
He passed away on June 11, but his wife was not notified until the following morning. Hickson left behind his wife and his five children.
The disregard for a human life displayed by Hickson’s medical team raised the question of how doctors contend with the responsibility of determining who lives versus who dies. But the disregard of a Black life seeking help from a medical provider is not specific to those tasked with caring for Hickson.
Many health care providers are subject to implicit biases that affect their ability to efficiently aid all individuals, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, etc. Healthcare providers do not exist in a vacuum and are influenced by culture, including media depictions of Black suffering and pain.
While most healthcare providers will never explicitly state that the treatment they provide to one group of people differs from that of another, it is clear that those biases exist. In this particular instance, it was the quickness in which doctors deemed Hickson’s life “insignificant” and chose to prematurely end it despite his wife’s wishes. In others instances, it is evident in the way that healthcare providers invalidate Black patients’ pain, oftentimes resulting in death.
