A woman has spoken out after claiming she was misdiagnosed with an STI when she had a burst ovarian cyst. Her case shines a light on the wider problem of misdiagnosis of women’s health conditions, experts say. Women are often misdiagnosed and sometimes even dismissed by healthcare systems trained to look for symptoms historically geared toward male bodies. While steps are being taken in the industry to address this gender inequality, new research from medical negligence experts, Higgs LLP, has revealed just to what extent this goes and how it affects patients, particularly those who get wrongly diagnosed with stigmatizing conditions like STIs and infertility.
A survey conducted by the experts for their Miss Diagnosed project revealed a quarter of women have a female-specific or gynecological illness that is misdiagnosed including endometriosis, PCOS, pregnancy, ovarian cysts, and period pain. Unsurprisingly, endometriosis is the most frequently misdiagnosed condition with one in 10 women surveyed being affected by this misdiagnosis.
Sharing her story with Higgs LLP, Elle Brown, who was diagnosed with an STI and infertility, was left “heartbroken†when she got this news at the age of 21. She felt immense shame, blaming herself for what she thought was her carelessness leading to infertility. However, in a follow-up appointment, a doctor claimed that not only was she completely misdiagnosed but that the nurse who had shared this news wasn’t qualified to make such a diagnosis.
Despite getting the right diagnosis of a burst ovarian cyst, Elle felt too ashamed to follow up on complaints about the nurse, who she believes was trying to get her to reconsider her life choices as a sexually active, single woman. Elle was also allegedly belittled by the doctor even further.
Clare Langford, Medical Negligence Expert at Higgs LLP warned of the dangers of misdiagnoses like Elle’s, stressing that such errors are a symptom of a larger, systemic problem within the healthcare system where women’s symptoms are too often dismissed or misunderstood. Misdiagnoses like Elle’s highlight the urgency for reform to address this gendered problem and ensure women receive accurate diagnoses and appropriate care.