Outrageous Practices
Medical journalists Leslie Laurence and Beth Weinhouse shine a penetrating light on the pervasive neglect, rampant gender bias and systematized discrimination in women’s health care that characterize the medical establishment. Marshalling an array of facts never before presented in a single book, Laurence and Weinhouse eloquently demonstrate that sexist medicine is bad science — and the demand for nonsexist treatment philosophies is nothing less than the demand for equal and effective treatment of women in research, education, and patient care.
Praise for Outrageous Practices
“An eye-opening look at medicine’s mistreatment of women during the past two centuries. . . Certain to enrage and educate.”
–San Francisco Examiner Chronicle
“Medical journalists Laurence and Weinhouse claim that the male-dominated medical profession treats women as second-class customers while ignoring many of their valid complaints. Moreover, much of standard medical practice is based on research using exclusively male subjects, so these treatments may not be directly transferable to women. The authors outline a history of exclusion of women from the medical profession and a horrifying history of ‘research’ on strictly female ailments. They also examine such outside influences as the court systems, foundations that distribute research grants, and drug companies to determine how they reduce or aggravate the problem.”
–KellyJo Houtz Griffin, Harrison Memorial Hospital, Bremerton, Washington
–KellyJo Houtz Griffin, Harrison Memorial Hospital, Bremerton, Washington
“This is not the first book on its subject, but it is one of the best. Laurence and Weinhouse draw on scientific and popular literature and many interviews to bolster their overwhelming indictment of many clinical, research, social, and political practices. They show how women are discriminated against by not being included in research protocols, by not being as thoroughly examined and treated as men, and by being told their problems are all in their heads. They show that most standard medical data are derived from males and then ‘interpreted’ to include women. Heart diseases offer an especially pertinent example, for physicians see them as primarily conditions of men; if they consider women, they think only of the conditions of older women. Sexually transmitted diseases in women are also poorly handled, but as one female physician is quoted as asking, ‘Who ever heard of a sexually transmitted disease that only one sex gets?’ Laurence and Weinhouse conclude by urging that physicians not only be aware of women as a group but also listen to their female patients as individuals.”
–William Beatty, Booklist
–William Beatty, Booklist