In the state of Amazonas, a black woman is called a “dirty, old, poor black monkey” by a doctor after seeking medical care for her child

Note from BW of Brazil: When does it end? Two issues to address here. 1) The general racist tendency of Brazilians to refer to African descendants as monkeys. 2) The treatment given to black women in the Brazilian health care system when they seek medical attention. The phenomenon of the association of black people with monkeys in Brazil has been well-documented on this blog and as most African descendants know, this racist association happens on a global level. As has been often discussed on this blog, SUS, or Sistema Único de Saúde, Brazil’s publicly funded health care system, leaves much to be desired and, coincidentally (or not), 70% of this plan’s users are Afro-Brazilian. Below is the latest embarrassing incident exposing consistent racist insults. 

“Dirty, poor, old black monkey” – Doctor refuses to tend to a child and is arrested

by Bruna Souza

Taken to provide clarification on the fact at the 19th Distrito Integrado de Polícia (DIP or Integrated Police District), the doctor also allegedly bit one of the police

After refusing to tend to a child and verbally offending the mother of the child, allegedly calling her a macaca, suja, pobretona and preta velha (dirty, old, poor black monkey)” inside the Hospital and the Children’s Emergency Room in Compensa, west zone of Manaus, a pediatrician identified by police as Socorro Pereira was arrested by MP of the 8ª Companhia Interativa Comunitária (Cicom or 8th Communitarian Interactive Company) late on Tuesday, December 10th. The doctor still refused to identify herself for the police and allegedly even bit the policeman who made the arrest.

According to police, the child’s mother denounced the health care professional after the doctor refused to tend to a minor and kept talking in the hallway with a woman. She approached the doctor to know when she would see the child who had symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. Socorro allegedly responded offensively and expelled the child out of the unit, according to the complaint.

The attitude of the pediatrician was reported to the garrison that went to the scene and confirmed the occurrence. According to the police, after realizing the presence of police, the doctor refused to identify herself and also acted aggressively against the MP. Being taken to provide clarification on the facts at the 19th Integrated Police District (IPD), the doctor even bit one of the police.

According to witnesses, the other doctors came out in favor of the pediatrician and ceased to serve patients for a few minutes. The doctor denied the fact and said that the mother was rude to question her services and that she decided to leave the unit alone without having been expelled.

The MP also informed that the doctor was presented at the police station for dereliction of duty – for having refused to provide care – disobedience, racism and resisting arrest. According to a spokesperson for the Civil Police of (the state of) Amazonas, at the station the mother didn’t testify anything about the offenses and the pediatrician signed a Termo Circunstanciado de Ocorrência (TCO or Detailed Term Occurrence) for failure to help.

Still according to a spokesperson, the doctor alleged abuse of authority on the part of the PMs and denounced the Corregedoria da Polícia Militar (or Internal Affairs Division of the Military Police), located at the headquarters of Secretaria de Segurança Pública  (SSP or Secretariat of Public Security). All were heard early on Wednesday (11).

Note from Susam

In a statement issued to the press, the Secretaria de Estado da Saúde (Susam or State Department of Health) announced that it has established a Commission of Inquiry installation in order to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident that occurred on the night of Tuesday (10), in the Children’s Emergency Room of the west zone, involving a doctor of the pediatric cooperative that maintains a contract with Susam and a user.

“Through the result of the work of the Commission the appropriate administrative action will be taken, but while the investigation proceeds the doctor in the case has been removed from giving patient care. Susam reiterates that at the time of the incident, 12 doctors were on duty in the unit and the service carried on normally. Susam reaffirms its commitment to the Política Nacional de Atendimento Humanizado do SUS (National Policy of Humanized Care of SUS), which guidelines should be followed by all health facilities and professionals working in the network,” the statement said.

The note further states that “independent of the investigation of the conduct of the doctor, the director of the Children’s Emergency Department of the West Zone has re-enforced its team with these provisions that must be strictly followed by all employees of health.”

Source: A Crítica