Doing Harm

Reviews

“Well researched, wonderfully truculent…These new ‘doctor stories’ cut deep, especially in a moment when ‘believe women’ has become a rallying cry.”

“The medical establishment has a poor history of taking women’s health issues seriously—a history that Feministing editor Dusenbery takes on with full force in her new book.”

“An antidote to the isolation and maddening self-doubt that this all-too-common dismissal can impose.”

“Explores how biases and sexism in medicine lead to harmful outcomes for women.”

“Explores how medicine often leaves women on the periphery of real medical advancement.”

“Maya Dusenbery has added immensely to the literature on women’s health.”

“Dusenbery peels back the sick layers of America’s paternal health-care system…She plays both patient and journalist, seamlessly combining history, research, and interviews into an easily digestible must-read.”

“Methodically and thoroughly lays out an indictment of the medical systems that still largely discount the experiences of women both individually and collectively.”

“Through interviews with patients, doctors, and experts as well as a deep cultural analysis, Dusenbery presents a horrifying picture of what it means to be a woman who’s dismissed by her doctors.”

“Provides critically relevant information for the public—and for those in medicine, psychology, and the research sciences.”

“Skillfully interweaves history, medical studies, current literature, and hard data….Backed by patient stories that range from hopeful to horrifying.”

“Dusenbery sheds light on autoimmune diseases, especially how they receive little funding, are often misdiagnosed, and predominantly affect women.”

“An organized, well-balanced combination of scientific and social research and moving personal stories.”

“Doing Harm shows what is left to be done and directs both women and men toward healing.”

“Maya Dusenbery brings new life to one of the most urgent yet under-discussed feminist issues of our time. Anyone who cares about women’s health needs to read this book.”

“Maya Dusenbery’s exhaustively researched book is equal parts infuriating and energizing. No woman will see the medical establishment, and perhaps even more profound, her own body, the same way after reading it. In a just world, it would be required reading in medical schools from this day forward.”

“Dusenbery challenges a new generation of women and practitioners to fight for medical equity—shining a harsh light on the sex bias that pervades every level of medicine. It’s outrageous that such malignant neglect exists more than two decades after the government acknowledged the gaps in knowledge about women’s health.”

“A deeply researched and very readable exploration of the systematic mistreatment of women in our medical system—and how even those with the best intentions perpetuate it. This book is an eye-opener; may it also be a call for real, sustained change.”

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