Florence Pugh says a gynecologist dismissed her PCOS diagnosis. What is medical gaslighting? What to know — and how to advocate for yourself at a doctor appointment

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Florence Pugh said she was "shut down" by a London gynecologist after being diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis in her late 20s. In a new interview with the SHE MD podcast, the now 28-year-old star revealed she was diagnosed with PCOS, a condition that causes reproductive hormone imbalance, by Dr. Thaïs Alabadi, a Los Angeles-based OB-GYN who co-hosts the health-focused podcast.

Pugh said she decided to freeze her eggs at 27 after learning both conditions could potentially impact her fertility. According to Pugh, Alabadi also told her that the painful periods she experienced was due to endometriosis, a chronic condition that causes tissue to grow outside of the uterus.

Although Alabadi was helpful, the British actress says her diagnosis was dismissed by her gynecologist in London.

“When I told her about the things that I’d found out…she shook her head and she said, ‘Well, that’s just not possible,’” Pugh recalled. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’ She goes, ‘You don’t have PCOS…’”

Pugh said she explained to her London gynecologist about her test results from the U.S. and her endometriosis diagnosis, but the doctor remained unconvinced.

“And she said, ‘No, you can’t possibly have that. How old are you?’ And I said 27. She goes, ‘No, you’re fine. And even if you do have it, you’ll be fine to have kids well into your 30s,'" Pugh said. "...“And in that room, I got shut down, told that I was essentially making things up, and that my gynecologist in America was making things up. And that even if I did have it, I shouldn't really be worried.”

Pugh's troubling experience is all too familiar for women who experience medical gaslighting. Keep reading to learn more about gaslighting from healthcare providers and how you can advocate for yourself.

Why are women more likely to face medical gaslighting?

Women are more likely to be misdiagnosed than men across a variety of ailments. The stats, and experiences, are even worse for women of colour who often face discrimination and gaslighting in even larger numbers.

In 2022, tennis star Serena Williams shared her own experience of mistreatment within the healthcare system after the birth of her first child in 2017. Williams, who had a history of blood clots, was forced to advocate for herself when she found herself in excruciating pain, with nurses that wouldn't listen to her ask for a heparin drip, a drug used to prevent blood clots. Williams ended up having a life-threatening blood clot in one of her arteries.

Despite this pattern, in 2020, the Canadian Institute of Health Research dedicated only 7 per cent of funding to women’s health research.

"Feeling overlooked by the healthcare system] is something that all women encounter," said Cally Wesson, CEO and President of BC Women’s Health Foundation in a previous interview with Yahoo Canada. "The sort of gaslighting when you have symptoms you're sometimes told 'go home, have a glass of wine,' when in actual fact your symptoms are real and valid."

The reason for this medical gaslighting can't be linked to necessarily one thing, but rather, as Wesson noted, is yet another byproduct of a patriarchal western society; one that has historically favoured men and impacted various social systems.

Have you been misled or gaslit by a doctor? Contact us at yahoo.canada.lifestyle.editors@yahooinc.com and you could be featured in an upcoming Yahoo Canada article.

But the consequences of staying silent can be dire — and even deadly. In March of last year, Allison Holthoff, an Amherst, N.S. resident, died after reportedly waiting in the ER for over six hours — all while her condition rapidly deteriorated.

Holthoff's death came two years after the 2021 death of Mireille Mdjomouo in a Quebec hospital. The 44-year-old woman shared her experience of mistreatment in an online video, claiming staff at her Quebec hospital were administering penicillin, despite the fact she was allergic (Mdjomouo died of natural causes, per a coroner's report). And in October 2020, Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman in Quebec, died after a video of Echaquan being mistreated and insulted by hospital staff went viral.

How can I advocate for myself during a doctor's appointment?

When it comes to advocating for yourself, Wesson advised women to arm themselves with as much factual info as they can before going into their appointment.

Do your research, ask questions and push back

"Make sure you're aware of the good sources of true information," she said. "Don't rely on Doctor Google, but rely on the information that's on some of the Research Institute websites." Arming yourself means you can feel prepared to ask questions and push back if you feel like your concerns aren’t being heard or validated.

Prioritize your concerns and ask for a second — or third — opinion

Given the state of the overworked healthcare system in Canada right now, experts also suggest prioritizing your concerns, focusing on your most urgent concerns to be addressed first. And despite any claims from a doctor that "everything is fine," don't be afraid to ask for a second or even a third opinion with another doctor.

Find your village

Finally, Wesson advised surrounding yourself with a network of people to talk about your health and individual experiences, as a way to normalize the conversations and in essence, the experience. Like, for example, conversations around menopause. "Often women are ashamed or don't want to talk about their symptoms," Wesson said. "But yes, let's talk about it; because often if you have those conversations, you can at least have that validation of, beyond hot flashes, [saying] 'Oh yeah, I'm experiencing that," with friends. Those are things that are really very important going forward if we're going to change the landscape of women's health."

The tide is changing when it comes to misogyny in healthcare, even if incrementally so. Established as a combined effort between Alberta Women's Health Foundation, BC Women’s Health Foundation, and Women's College Hospital Foundation, the Women's Health Collective Canada is a network aimed at bringing data and care to Canadian women across the country. It includes funding medical research that addresses the needs of women and broadening the scope of women's health programs.

At BC Women's Hospital, they're creating a program in Midwife Women's Health centred around menopause. The program will eventually train physicians to do a rotation in menopause, but more importantly for research will establish a centre of excellence — a reputable and specialized space — in the country. "Let's say you do have a doctor in Edmonton that has a patient who is presenting really complex symptoms, they have somewhere that they can go as a resource," Wesson said.

But, as Wesson noted, there's still a way to go. "Women need to come together to really push that women's health research topics should be in the forefront," Wesson said. "As women, we often put our families first, put our careers first, everything, and we often don't take care of ourselves. [And] in some ways that might be a metaphor, so to speak, of why women's health research hasn't taken that profile that's needed."

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