Health inequality among Black women is a matter of life and death. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is now facing a federal civil rights investigation over the treatment of Black mothers.

“Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” The American Heart Association reported.

Investigators are looking into how Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, located in Los Angeles, treats Black women who give birth there, an official with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told The Los Angeles Times.

The investigation comes years after the death of Kira Dixon Johnson, and her husband, Charles Johnson IV, suing the medical center twice.

In April 2016, Johnson went to Cedars-Sinai to deliver her second son by cesarean section but she died hours later after hemorrhaging blood.

“She’s just not our priority now.” This is what a father of two was told when he tried to inform the staff at a Los Angeles hospital that his wife, a patient, was not well after giving birth.

In 2017, Johnson sued Cedars-Sinai in state court as well as the doctor who attended to his wife, alleging wrongful death and emotional distress.

Johnson filed a separate civil rights lawsuit in 2022 against Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles County Superior Court accusing the hospital of not providing the best care possible because his wife was a Black woman.

Both lawsuits were settled.

Melanie Fontes Rainer, director of HHS’ Office of Civil Rights, confirmed the agency’s investigation in an emailed statement to The Los Angeles Times.

“Maternal health is a priority for the Biden-Harris Administration and one in which the HHS Office for Civil Rights is working on around the country to ensure equity and equality in health care,” Fontes Rainer said. “To protect the integrity of this ongoing investigation we have no further comment.”

The Office of Civil Rights “has been made aware of concerns regarding the standard of care provided to Black women in the care of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,” the letter said. “Specifically, OCR is aware of allegations that Black women are provided a standard of care below what is provided to other women who are not Black when receiving health care services related to labor and delivery.”

The agency is reviewing whether Cedars-Sinai Hospital is in compliance with federal civil rights laws, considering the allegations and the hospital’s receipt of federal funding.

Johnson has become an advocate for reducing maternal mortality. He has testified before Congress and at the state Capitol in Sacramento in support of a variety of bills, including a 2019 state law that requires doctors and nurses to identify implicit bias at work, and a recent bill that would lift the cap on medical malpractice awards. The cap is currently at $250,000, NPR reported.

Charles Johnson stands outside Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, May 4, 2022, in Los Angeles. Johnson is suing Cedars-Sinai after his wife Kira died at the hospital from complications after giving birth by cesarean section in 2016. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)