DMC Settles on Eve of Boycott

On the eve of a threatened boycott by the Detroit Medical Society and the Movement for Justice over the firing of Dr. Melvin Murphy and other patient care and staffing concerns, the Detroit Medical Center reached an agreement with Dr. Murphy in late January to stave off the February boycott.

While the settlement fell far short of achieving goals around improving patient care and working conditions, the Movement for Justice succeeded in bringing the issues of medical redlining, declining quality of patient care, poor working conditions, and racist DMC policies to the public's attention.

Increasing negative publicity likely brought the DMC to the table, and though much was left unimproved for patients and workers, the events showed that a small group of well-organized people can mobilize the public and media enough to move a player as big as the DMC.