Opinion: Women in B.C. face barriers to equal healthcare as their pain is often dismissed

By HAZEL LOVE

As I was wheeled into the operating room at Vancouver General Hospital to have my ruptured appendix removed, I agonized over why it had taken doctors 48 hours to act.

Last May, I  arrived at the VGH emergency room in distress. Despite the intolerable pain and continuous vomiting, I was sent home with a fistful of painkillers, antacids and no clear understanding of what was wrong with me. Less than 12 hours later, I returned, insisting I needed further care. Another excruciating nine hours passed before doctors diagnosed my appendicitis. By then, my appendix had already burst, which could have been fatal.

My story is not unique. Across Canada and beyond, women are often ignored, misdiagnosed or forced to wait until their condition becomes critical.

The gender gap in emergency care

A 2024 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analyzed over 20,000 emergency room cases in the U.S. and Israel. It found that women were significantly more likely than men to experience delays in pain treatment in emergency rooms. Female patients’ pain scores were 10 per cent less likely to be recorded by nurses, and they spent an average of 30 minutes longer in the ER than their male counterparts.

Women are left suffering longer, misdiagnosed more often and gaslit into believing their health concerns aren’t urgent.

Cheryl Krasnick-Warsh, a PhD and professor of medical history at Vancouver Island University, said gender bias in medicine dates back thousands of years.

“Historically, women’s health issues were attributed solely to their reproductive organs,” she said, tracing this mindset back to ancient Greece, where the term “hysteria” literally meant “wandering uterus.” Even in medicine today, Warsh said a woman presenting with pain is often brushed off with vague reproductive-related explanations, delaying proper diagnosis.

Warsh explained that paradoxically, women are “biologically made to tolerate more pain than men,” an adaptive response that helps women endure childbirth and menstrual pain. This, in part, has led to doctors downplaying their complaints, assuming they can handle them. She also noted that women are more likely to visit a physician than men, but the more often they seek care, the less likely they are to be believed.

Doctors are dismissing women seeking help

Shawna Dexter said she suffered a severe concussion and experienced persistent post-concussive symptoms. When she sought medical help, she was dismissed. “The nurse just said, ‘It’s very common for women to have concussion symptoms for up to two years. You don’t need to be here,'” Dexter said.

It didn’t matter that her symptoms were new, worsening, or affecting her quality of life—her concerns were waved away as being “normal for women.”

A few months later, Dexter’s partner was diagnosed with a concussion when a pipe fell on his head at work. He was referred to specialists immediately and fully recovered in three months. Although Dexter said she was happy for him to receive the care he needed, she found it incredibly frustrating to see “how easily those doors opened for him” while she continued to suffer.

Travelling abroad for treatment

Malika Mohebbi, originally from Iran and now living in Vancouver, said she was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome at 17 in B.C. and was prescribed a cocktail of medications. Eight years later, she sought care in her home country, Iran, and was shocked to learn she had been misdiagnosed. “I have zero abnormalities on my ovaries,” she said.

Determined to get an accurate diagnosis when she returned to B.C., she pushed for a referral to an endocrinologist. After months of hearing nothing, she called her family doctor to discover her referral had been declined. “I put in the referral in August [2024]. I found out last week [February 2025] that the endocrinologist had declined it back in August without even seeing me.” The email she eventually received said, “Dr. Dahl did not feel he could be of any further assistance.”

“These doctors don’t know what they’re doing. They dismiss you because they don’t have the skill to diagnose you properly,” she said.

Mohebbi said she now travels abroad for medical treatment. “Most Iranian people I know do the same thing. They spend thousands to go back home for care. What does that say about the system here?”

The system may be broken, but the cracks are more visible to women seeking care.

The solution isn’t just more funding or more doctors. A fundamental shift in medical culture is needed to stop dismissing women’s symptoms, prioritize proper diagnosis and recognize that pain is pain, regardless of gender. Until then, stories like mine, Dexter’s and Mohebbi’s will continue to be heard too often.

Editor’s note: This story was updated Feb. 26 to reflect that it is an opinion piece.