21 Real-Life Examples of Medical Misogyny That Will Leave You Angry and Heartbroken

Earlier this month, X user @xevekiah asked: “What’s a clear example of medical malpractice you’ve seen or experienced?” And the prompt quickly went viral, with thousands of women coming forward to share their personal experiences of having their medical emergency ignored or dismissed.

X @xevekiah / CBS / Via Twitter: @xevekiah

Here are just 21 examples that are sure to leave you both angry and heartbroken:

Some posts have been edited for clarity.

1. “When I gave birth to my daughter, I had to be kept in the hospital for 10 days because my condition was not good. Every time I tried to get up, I fainted. According to my husband, I stopped breathing at the same time. He panicked and called a cardiologist friend who works in the same hospital. He replied, ‘You know, sometimes it’s hard to get our attention.’ My husband was angry. He insisted that someone come and see what was really going on. When the resident arrived, the husband said, ‘Look.’ He helped me up, and after that I don’t remember anything. When I woke up, the room was full of panicked doctors. My breathing stopped again. That was the moment they realized it wasn’t ‘attention seeking’.” – @neurologistmum

2. “My friend had been going to the doctor for over a year with stomach pains and bloating. He told her to calm down and try yoga, there was nothing physically wrong with her. She collapsed at work and was taken to A&E where they discovered stage 4 ovarian cancer.” — @StillDavy

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3. “I was in A&E for nine hours with a broken leg in multiple places and was asked to walk between departments while a man with a broken leg was wheeled around in a wheelchair and discharged, even though I arrived before him and was treated hours earlier.” — @peddiepascal

4. “After my gallbladder was removed, I was told I would be in ‘excruciating pain’ if bile leaked into my stomach. I was leaking about 1.5 liters of bile per day, and I was in excruciating pain. They didn’t believe me.” — @petiteJeanine

5. “A male gynecologist told me that it was normal to bleed for a year after having sex with a man and that my periods would be normal. I was 15, my mother was mad.” — @basingsx

6. “Swollen gallbladder, almost dead, said it’s just acid reflux. Partner has acid reflux. They send a team of surgeons to check if it’s her gallbladder.” — @Hereticalturf

7. “I have a list, but the worst part is how long it took to find out I had cancer. Because I’m a 23-year-old woman with a history of mental illness, my inability to breathe properly was dismissed as a concern for MONTHS until I had a CT scan.” — @theobites

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8. “When I was working at the prison, we had this woman who had all the classical symptoms of a heart attack (the staff reported it), but the director was concerned and told her to use her coping skills … The next day they found her dead in solitary confinement.” — @xojayceelyn2xo

9. “My mom had cellulitis on her leg and she screamed at the slightest touch, but the doctors at the ER told my dad it was psychotic and he was just looking for opioids. He had sepsis and kidney failure and we almost lost him before another doctor helped him with antibiotics.” — @QueerHercules

10. “A friend of mine complained of severe, worsening headaches during pregnancy. The doctors wrote it off as hormone-related. The aneurysm ruptured and she died before hitting the floor.” — @MountainMcRae

11. “The only reason my hysterectomy was allowed was because I had life-threatening fibroids, PCOS, and endo. Previously, I was told I needed permission from a male parent or spouse, and counseling sessions should be considered, because I was still ‘of childbearing age.'” — @lenubianne

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12. “A doctor told my daughter to go home, lose weight and have a baby. She died of cervical cancer in less than a month.” — @lisarobel

13. “I’ve been told for 18 months that my broken spine was just period pain.” — @PCGirlCop

14. “I went to a male doctor about how much pain I was in, could barely move, couldn’t eat/drink, had bile, etc., and he told me I had period cramps and needed painkillers. Turns out my kidneys were malformed.” — @madisongrossman

15. “Uterine procedures/biopsies (which can only be described as medieval) with no pain relief.” — @EvaKatz_

16. “I know someone who was told she couldn’t have her tubes tied even though she had four kids and was a widow because ‘what if you meet another guy and he wants to have ‘real kids’ which is both abusive and insulting to every family that isn’t biologically related!!” — @HollieP80216260

17. “When I had giant tumors that were killing me, they kept checking to see if I got pregnant before every chemo treatment and other treatments. Basically, if I got pregnant. I didn’t get treatment to save my life. And left to die.” — @BibiBlossoms

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18. “I had heart problems, went to doctors, had many tests, only to have the test results dismissed as stress/’hysterical girl’ and told to move and breathe. My boyfriend is now experiencing the exact same symptoms, and no doctor has even said the word ‘stress’ to him.” — @wascaleywabbit

19. “They gave my husband the consent papers while I was standing there, fully conscious, not even in pain, very pregnant, but clearly not the one to give birth.” — @abrar7596

20. “When my best friend had a medical emergency, the doctors wasted 30 minutes asking her if she wasn’t pregnant and she was lying about her pain. They refused to take the test results into account. In the end, they told the mother that if they had waited another hour she would have died. When her uncle said the same thing and a few months later they didn’t believe him, they believed in a less dangerous stage. Immediately.” — @polobenne

21. And finally: “I had a friend with endometriosis. Her doctor’s advice was to learn how to deal with it early so she wouldn’t burden her future husband.” — @LittlePark_uwu

Have you ever experienced medical malpractice? Let me know in the comments below or in this anonymous form.

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