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Dismissed

TODAY is shining a light on women fighting to feel well, the underreported medical challenges that affect women’s health and the doctors who are pushing for change.

It took 7 doctors to diagnose me with a common disease that almost killed me

“You’re homesick and probably depressed,” one doctor told me when I saw him for severe exhaustion and brain fog. Shortly after, I began hallucinating.
Meghan Bea
Meghan Bea

Woman's symptoms were dismissed as sinus issues, dry eye. It was an egg-size brain tumor

Christine Spadafor had to keep pushing to get the true diagnosis after being dismissed by doctors. She endured 70 medical visits during the ordeal.
Christine Spadafor
Christine Spadafor

This is what it’s like to have aphasia and struggle to find the words

Before my illness, my vocabulary was vast. Then one day I couldn’t think of the word for “pillow.”

Women outnumber men in U.S. medical schools for the first time

There’s some evidence women fare better when seen by female doctors.
USA, New Jersey, Doctor talking to patient in office
USA, New Jersey, Doctor talking to patient in office

'Something is not right': Woman reverses tubal ligation after complications

When Rebecca Revely had tubal ligation surgery, she started experiencing unpleasant side effects. When she saw her doctor for a checkup, she felt really off.
Woman With Stomachache Lying On Bed At Home
Woman With Stomachache Lying On Bed At Home

‘I wanted control over my body’: Woman, 27, shares yearslong fight to have tubes tied

After asking for years to have a tubal ligation because she knew she didn't want children, a doctor finally agreed to help her.

'It wasn't about my weight': How weight stigma keeps women from treatment

How weight bias in medicine can lead to missed diagnosis, physical and mental pain.

It's not all in our heads: Women speak out about feeling dismissed by doctors

Women speak out about how doctors dismissed their pain, downplayed their symptoms or simply sent them to a psychiatrist.
Women's Health
Women's Health

The wellness trap: How women dismissed by doctors turn to wellness

Are women who feel dismissed or ignored by doctors leading the rise in "wellness"?

Dismissed: The health risk of being a woman

There's a gender gap at the doctor's office every woman needs to know about. Meet the doctors fighting for change.