Yeah, great question, I don’t understand it either, but marginalized groups like women or people of color can have a hell of a time getting medical professionals to take their concerns seriously. Maybe it’s just a hubris thing. “How dare this person question my judgment when I’m the doctor?”
Too right! It’s only white men who get the full benefit of modern medical capacity. Everyone else is fucked.
s/ in case it’s needed.
I mean, there are tons of studies on racial and gender inequality in healthcare, but OK, go off.
For example, members of minority groups have longer wait times in the ER [7-9], are less likely to receive catheterization when identical expressions of chest pain are presented [10], and are less likely to be recommended for evaluation at a transplant center or be placed on a transplant waiting list when suffering from end-stage renal disease [11]. African Americans receive lower-quality pain treatment [12, 13], even when covered by the same medical insurance [14, 15] and seeking treatment at the same emergency department [16] as patients of other races. (https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/education-identify-and-combat-racial-bias-pain-treatment/2015-03)
“I was told I knew too much, that I was working too hard, that I was stressed out, that I was anxious,” said Ilene Ruhoy, a 53-year-old neurologist from Seattle, who had head pain and pounding in her ears.
Despite having a medical degree, Ruhoy said she struggled to get doctors to order a brain scan. By the time she got it in 2015, a tennis ball-sized tumor was pushing her brain to one side. […]
Doubts about women’s pain can affect treatment for a wide range of health issues, including heart problems, stroke, reproductive health, chronic illnesses, adolescent pain and physical pain, among other things, studies show. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/interactive/2022/women-pain-gender-bias-doctors/)
Can take this too far, though.
Since the data has been collected from white majority countries, and I’d be very surprised to see the same trend in, say, China - I think it reflects basic tribalism more than anything.
Still a problem if you’re part of a minority group anywhere, but I genuinely think it’s a fundamental human characteristic.
The medication thing is because the trials are overwhelmingly run on white men aged 18-30. You can imagine the outrage if we’d been selectively testing on minorities, and women of childbearing age are avoided to protect any unborn children.
Complex topic, but these things don’t always come down to calculated racism. And yet there is that kernel of truth in it that people don’t want to confront, which is that humans have this basic level of racism “baked in” to the hardware. Tricky.
On top of that, I’m sure unhelpfully paternalistic and sexist attitudes do persist in medicine. Anecdotally, this can be particularly severe in Indian cultures - I couldn’t believe how differently a female friend was treated by the same doctor.
Edit: oh yeah, sorry, what I meant to say is only white people are capable of doing wrong.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/physicians-more-likely-to-doubt-black-patients
https://www.today.com/health/implicit-bias-medicine-how-it-hurts-black-women-t187866
The research is out there with a quick search. As a white woman though, I definitely don’t need research to know it’s true. Especially with gynecological issues, pain levels, and psychiatry. We’re “hysterical,” and though they don’t use that word anymore, that judgement is alive and well.
