Doctor: Discrimination By Delta Kept Her from Treating Sick Passenger

DETROIT, MI — An African-American doctor who says she was pushed aside by a Delta Air Lines flight attendant when a man needed medical help mid-flight — she was reportedly quizzed about her medical credentials while a white man was accepted as a doctor without similar questions — has shared her complaint of discrimination on social media.

Dr. Tamika Cross, a Michigan native who now works as a resident physician-obstetrician and gynecologist with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, was on a Delta flight from Detroit to Houston. She’d flown to her home state for a wedding.

In a Facebook post that has been shared more than 45,000 times, Cross said that when a woman screamed for help for her unresponsive husband, a flight attendant called for a physician on board. When Cross raised her hand to get the attendant’s attention, she was reportedly told, "Oh no, sweetie put your hand down, we are looking for actual physicians or nurses or some type of medical personnel, we don't have time to talk to you."

When Cross tried to tell the flight crew that she was a physician, she said she was “repeatedly cut off by condescending remarks.”

The Atlanta-based airline said in a statement on Facebook that it is investigating Cross’ account of the incident

“We are troubled by any accusations of discrimination and take them very seriously. The experience Dr. Cross has described is not reflective of Delta’s culture or of the values our employees live out every day,” the airline said. “We’ve reached out to Dr. Cross to speak with her directly.”

After the flight attendants paged for a doctor, Cross again tried to help the man. "Oh wow, you're an actual physician?" the attendant said, Cross wrote. She was then asked for her credentials, specialty, where she works and why she was in Detroit. Instead of letting Cross tend to the man, when a white man came forward and said he was a physician as well, he was allowed to check the ailing passenger.

The attendant dismissed Cross and said the man had his credentials, which Cross disputed. He “just showed up and fit the ‘description of a doctor,’” she said.

Delta’s statement disagrees with Cross, saying three medical professionals identified themselves on the flight, and the only one able to produce documentation of medical training was the doctor who was asked to help the passenger.

When a medical ID isn’t available, the flight crew is trained to question passengers about where medical training was received or whether they have a business card or other documentation and ultimately to use their best judgment, Delta said.

That response on Facebook has sparked the hashtag #WhatADoctorLooksLike. “Well for future reference, #WeAreAllPhysicians,” wrote one comment to the airline. “So if you see anyone in this photo, and someone is dying, move aside and let us do our job!”

While the crew member apologized to Cross several times and offered her Delta SkyMiles, the doctor says, “I kindly refused. … I don't want skymiles in exchange for blatant discrimination. Whether this was race, age, gender discrimination, it's not right. She will not get away with this....and I will still get my skymiles,” Cross posted.

»Patch file photo