A woman who was accused of faking her debilitating illness has died at 33
www.independent.co.uk
Her condition, caused by gene mutations, was blamed baselessly on psychiatric issues

Aston sought medical help after her symptoms—which included severe migraines, abdominal pain, joint dislocations, easy bruising, iron deficiency, fainting, tachycardia, and multiple injuries—began in 2015, per the New Zealand Herald. She was referred to Auckland Hospital, where a doctor accused her of causing her own illness. Because of his accusations, Aston was placed on psychiatric watch. 

Research suggests women are often much more likely to be misdiagnosed than men. A 2009 study of patients with heart disease symptoms found 31.3 per cent of middle-aged women “received a mental health condition as the most certain diagnosis”, compared to just 15.6 per cent of their male counterparts. Additionally, a 2020 study found that as many as 75.2 per cent of patients with endometriosis—a painful disorder that affects the tissue of the uterus—had been misdiagnosed after they started experiencing endometriosis symptoms. Among those women, nearly 50 per cent were told they had a “mental health problem”.

    • Tetley@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I mean I’m aware of the controversial past in regards to how women weren’t represented in trials but your own link says that they reversed that decision in the 90’s so there has been sufficient time for doctors to learn the differences in biology because the research has been built upon robustly during the last 30 years. So that makes them terrible people for not keeping up with the research was the point of my other comment.

      • OminousOrange@lemmy.caEnglish
        4·
        1 year ago

        Oh, my friend, you vastly underestimate how long it takes for, first, the clinical trials involving women to actually be conducted to a similar extent as those in men, then for medical regulators to actually make it a standard of practice, then for medical education to develop teaching methods for the standard, and for existing doctors to actually review and implement the new standards, which may not ever happen for some doctors, as you say.

        Yes, they reversed the decision decades ago, but medicine moves incredibly slow when putting things into practice.