Physicians and other medical professionals have a duty to their patients. They should treat everyone with dignity and respect. Their goal should be to help, not harm. They have to understand a patient’s condition and help them secure the best treatment available.
Unfortunately, medical errors are frighteningly common. The people most in need of support often do not receive the care they require for an optimal prognosis. For example, women who travel to the emergency room seeking care for major medical events may find that implicit bias on the part of emergency room employees may compromise the care that they receive.
Sex bias affects medical care negatively
There are many stereotypes about women that may influence how medical employees perform their jobs. They may be less likely to take a woman’s self-reported pain symptoms seriously when a man who makes the same claim might receive immediate attention.
Additionally, workers may not understand that major medical events look different when a patient is female. A heart attack, for example, often produces chest pain and pain or tingling in the left arm for a man. Women, on the other hand, may experience symptoms that are closer to heartburn.
When health care professionals let their bias affect the care that they provide and do not prioritize understanding sex-specific symptoms, major emergency room errors may occur. Women may end up turned away from the hospital instead of receiving life-saving care.
Those affected by emergency room errors may have grounds for medical malpractice claims. Requesting and reviewing medical records with a skilled legal team can help people determine if bias and lack of knowledge may have contributed to mistakes made at an emergency room.