From heart bypasses to liver transplants, a consistent pattern of unequal care for women spans cardiology, surgery and emergency medicine, according to researchers
Published : 17 Sep 2026, 09:29 PM
Women with the same medical conditions as men are significantly less likely to be offered surgery, stents or strong painkillers, a global review of research has found.
Researchers at the University of St Andrews analysed 38 studies and found that in 33 of them, women were less likely to receive active treatment than men, according to The Guardian.
The gap was sharpest in cardiovascular care -- men were more often referred for bypasses and stents while women were given medication instead.
Men with Parkinson's were more likely to get deep brain stimulation, male liver patients more likely to receive transplants, and women with kidney disease spent longer on catheters than men.
The British news website quoted the research finds as saying that Women were also less frequently prescribed opioids for pain.
No clinical guidelines recommended different treatment by sex, suggesting assumption -- not medicine -- was driving the disparity.
Dr Andrew O'Malley, who co-led the study, said doctors more often attributed women's symptoms to anxiety and made more diagnostic errors with female patients, even when test results were positive, according to The Guardian.
The findings, published in Plos One, add to growing concern about the gender health gap. British Health Secretary Wes Streeting said in March that women were being let down by "medical misogyny."
