A nurse practitioner at a Philadelphia-based pregnancy clinic is under fire for refusing to provide a doctor's note for her patient to stop working for the duration of her pregnancy. The staffer was captured in a now-viral TikTok video questioning the pregnant woman's decision-making during the visit.
The patient visited the Philly Pregnancy Center's Norristown location on October 8, stating that she was in severe pain during her seventh month of pregnancy, NBC News reported. Her lawyer, Briana Lynn Pearson, said the altercation between the patient, an African American woman, and the nurse, who is white, is one of many issues Black women face when addressing their health concerns in the medical industry.
In the TikTok video, the nurse can be heard questioning her patient, Jillian, about her decision-making. “What were you thinking about when you got pregnant — that you were not going to work?” the staffer asked in the 1:46-minute clip. "Because I had three kids. I worked up until the second they were born.”
“But am I you? Do you know how I feel?” Jillian responded.
The two continued to exchange words, with Jillian stating that she needed the doctor's note to take off work for the remaining two months of her pregnancy. The nurse, however, told her that taking time off work would be considered "fraud."
When Jillian stood up and revealed the nurse's identity on camera, the staffer threatened to call the police. She also accused the employee of hitting her with a red laptop case. "Look how she’s hitting me,” Jillian said in the video.
The woman went on to describe her experience with the clinic's staff.
In a series of TikTok videos posted since the incident, Jillian explained her experience at the clinic, showing viewers staff responses to the altercation in an Instagram post. She said the facility seemingly agreed with the staffer's decision to withhold a doctor's note. "They're placing all of the blame on me [and] justifying the woman assaulting me," she explained. "It's so many things wrong with this statement."
Jillian said the pain she's been feeling has made it difficult to do her job. She tried making an appointment at the clinic for more than a week before it agreed to have her come in. "When I tried to describe the pain, [the nurse] cut me off" and examined her cervix "very aggressively," she said in the video. "It was painful."
When the staffer refused to provide the doctor's note, Jillian asked to speak with another physician at the clinic. She said the employee responded, "Please don't take her to my office." The TikToker replied, "No one wants to go to your office. You’re a weirdo for that.”
Police arrived at the clinic after the staffer said she felt 'threatened.'
Jillian said police officers arrived at the clinic because the employee said she feared for her life. After the police left, Jillian said the staffer approached her in the lobby while waiting for another physician to provide her with a doctor's note.
The woman started recording the exchange, with the nurse stating that a doctor's note would be "fraud." “It’s not fraud,” Jillian said. “If it was fraud, the doctor wouldn’t be getting me a note right now.”
Jillian's lawyer told the Philadelphia Inquirer that her client deserves an apology for the staffer's actions in the video.
Pearson called the nurse's actions 'discriminatory' against the pregnant woman.
“Jill, an African American woman, went to the Philadelphia Pregnancy Center at seven months pregnant, in pain, seeking medical care and was met with abuse, neglect, and discriminatory treatment because she is African American,” Pearson claimed in an email to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“The American health care system has been complacent with the disparate treatment of women of color for far too long," she added.
Jillian's experience is something that many Black women continue to face in the United States and internationally when addressing issues that affect their well-being.
Jillian's story has gone viral.
In the short time since Jillian's clinic appointment, the original video has gone viral on TikTok and Twitter. It has nearly 200,000 views on TikTok alone, and Jillian actually created a Twitter account to share updates. Many people have voiced their support of the expectant mom and shared her video.
At least one commenter has suggested that the nurse practitioner already has been fired and that her license is under review, but people are still calling for accountability at the pregnancy clinic.
"The fact they’ve had such bad google reviews this whole time and only come under state review now after twitter drags them is just another indication that they don’t give a f— about health services in low income neighbourhoods," read one tweet.
