EHLERS DANLOS SYNDROME AND GENDER BIAS

This is the cover of my debut novel, Detroit Heroic to be released in September 2026 published by Heliotrope Press. The novel describes many themes of the late 1960’s. Racism, police brutality, urban unrest, an unwanted foreign war complete with nightly body counts.

One of the core themes is the background and circumstances leading to the rapid passage of Roe v Wade.

Prior to the legalization of abortion women had to turn to criminals for the procedure.

Deaths, rapes, madness and infertility were consequences.

My protagonist, a skilled physician, though conflicted about abortions, becomes a participant. He considers it a damned if you do but more damned if you don’t.

He is against women turning to frightening incompetent criminals as the the case in the 1960’s.

My protagonist’s mentor considers it a battlefield decision. When in Vietnam he called in Napalm airstrikes on his platoon to save half rather than lose all.

Women had to fight a misogynistic medical establishment. And so, the cover reflects the dilemma of women in the late 1960’s.

Unfortunately, misogyny, politely called gender bias, still exists in healthcare.

I became aware of this when I encountered women with the Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS.) I hope that my novel will direct some attention to EDS.

The disease primarily effects women. It is thought to be rare; but it is not. Ten million young women in the United Sates are sufferers. What is rare are doctors who are familiar with the condition. Most women go undiagnosed for decades. They are marginalized and humiliated by professionals who have little familiarity of the condition.

(Compare this to the incidence of erectile dysfunction, 1 million men aged 18-29, 3 million men aged 30-39 yet there is no lack of awareness, empathy, and treatment.)

I don’t understand why women don’t demand attention to their situation.

This is not the pre-suffrage era. Ms. Holly Peterson points out (WSJ June 27-28)

                  Women must remember how we wield power, and tap it, integrate it,

                  realize it. We earn the majority of university and master’s degrees, cast more

                  votes than men and influence far more consumer purchasing decisions.

Why are the women afflicted with EDS ignored or worse?

I believe the healthcare establishment is either ignorant or misogynist or both.

I will give my colleagues a brake and plead ignorance.

My hope is with the majority of medical students now being women, this will change.