"Why Can’t A Woman Be [ treated ] More Like A Man?"

"Why Can't a Woman Be More Like A Man?"The question posed by the “My Fair Lady” lyrics might be revised by some to “why can’t a woman be treated more like a man?” The consequences of the issue of gender inequality is analogized as like cancer detection in an article “Early Detection of Differential Treatment” by Alison Jost in the November 3, 2006 issue of Bioethics Forum. The article describes the author’s experience with her new dermatologist (a male dermatologist) and her suspicions that she received differential treatment (in a negative sense) with respect to what a man might have received. Although she reminds us of other areas of differential treatment of women's health and life,she is worried that this unequal treatment by physicians may be, at times, to the detriment of the woman’s health. The author seems to be concerned that some women would not early recognize the inequality and therefore not act on it, thus leading, like the need for early cancer detection, to their medical harm.

There are some questions that arise from this article. One is: is the concern about differential treatment realistic? There has been published commentary about the missed diagnosis and therefore missed treatment of women who have significant coronary artery disease. This might support the concern. Another question is whether women physicians also provide differential treatment to women patients and, if so, what is the difference regarding their behavior or their attention to the needs of woman vs men? If the differential treatment is real,what is the motivation of the physician? Any help on these questions? ..Maurice.