Dr. Charles Camosy, a professor of bioethics at Fordham University, also told CNA that he was confused by the relative lack of major media attention given to Hickson's death, especially in light of the increased attention to racial justice.
"Given what we know about how rightly distrustful African Americans are of contemporary U.S. medicine, especially at the end of life, it is absolutely shocking that this clear issue of racial justice and medicalized violence is not being picked up broadly by major media outlets," Camosy said first on Twitter and then to CNA.
Since the death of George Floyd, a black man who died on May 25 in the custody of the Minneapolis Police, there have been a series of protests and increased attention given to the mistreatment of ethnic minorities in American society, something Camosy said is "helpfully exposing examples of both personal and structural racism."
"And yet, at least for now, all we hear are crickets [regarding Hickson's death] except in the pro-life and disabilitiy communities," said Camosy.
Camosy acknowledged that while there may be times that require medical rationing, "there is no evidence that this was the case, and the doctor made it clear on the recording that he was aiming at his patient's death on the basis of his disability."
In the video, when Melissa asked to clarify that the doctor was referring to Michael's disabilities when he claimed that her husband "didn't have much" of a quality of life, the doctor replied "correct."
In the recorded video, the doctor explained to Melissa that the patients who were treated successfully with the drug he was refusing to administer to Michael were "walking and talking," unlike her husband.
In a second video Melissa posted to YouTube, she describes how she was not informed of her husband's death for over 12 hours, and states that she was not allowed to visit him in hospice or have a FaceTime call with him before his death. She called for people to contact her husband's doctors and medical guardians, who she says failed him in his final days.
"Michael's widow is pleading for us to hold the people who did this to account, and that we must do," said Camosy. "Because black lives matter."
Christine Rousselle is a former DC Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. Prior to working at CNA, she was the managing web editor of Townhall.com; she has a BA in political science from Providence College.