Are we practicing medical misogyny?

When it comes to cancer, I’m neither physician nor patient, nor even a policy expert.  But being both a critical thinker and a feminist, I’m struck by what the juxtaposition of two seemingly unrelated new oncology studies, published in highly respected medical journals a month apart, can tell us about how gender shapes the way we perceive (or misperceive) illness, and the impact that has on patients’ well-being. On April 14, JAMA Oncology published “Nomenclature Revision for Encapsulated Follicular Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.”  Although the title may be nearly impenetrable to the non-specialist, the study conveys good news: A condition previously categorized as thyroid cancer has been found to not be cancer after all.  No longer labeled cancer, it will also no longer be treated the same way.  Previously, approximately ten thousand patients a year in the U.S. with this condition have undergone thyroidectomy, followed by treatment with radioactive iodine and follow-up checkups for the rest of their lives.  The recognition that these particular tumors are not actually cancer means physicians can follow a more appropriate and less harmful treatment protocol, leaving the thyroid in place and no longer subjecting patients to radiation, or to the lifelong stress and expense of unnecessary follow-up exams. It’s hard to imagine any physician refusing to follow this new protocol, continuing to subject patients to unnecessary and harm...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Conditions Cancer Source Type: blogs