HEALTH CARE PRACTICES (UK's drug testing)

It is very interesting that many health care providers treat women differently than they treat men. Compared to men, women often receive less thorough evaluations for similar complaints, are given less attention to their symptoms, and have fewer interventions for the same diagnoses. Also, women tend not to get the same degree of explanation in response to questions and there may even be a difference in whether medications are prescribed (NWHIC, 2001b). Reasons for this vary from paternalistic perspectives on the part of some male physicians to the type of health care provider visited. Women using two physicians concurrently receive more clinical services than women using only one. In many cases, this occurs when women see both an obstetrician-gynecologist and a primary care physician. Advanced practice nurses also are starting to make positive impacts on the delivery of care to women, especially for those in managed care situations (Gonen, 1999).