Doctor Legato Named One Of Castle Connolly’s “Exceptional Women In Medicine”

Dr. Legato Interviewed for Article on Gender Bias in Medicine

When it comes to illness or symptoms of illness, do doctors respond differently to their female patients than to their male patients? Unfortunately, in some cases, yes—gender bias is still a factor to contend with even among experienced doctors. Dr. Legato spoke to interviewer Jonathan Jay Esslinger, who is a licensed therapist and author, about the challenges and health issues women face and what needs to change for both male and female patients, especially in regard to training and public awareness.

Dr. Legato offers the following tips for women at the doctor’s office:

1. Have a list of clearly worded questions. Keep each short and to the point
2. Listen to the doctor’s answer first before you interject or ask more questions (you run the risk of going off on a tangent when both you and the doctor need to focus on the issue at hand)
3. If you don’t agree with or understand the answer, say so!
4. Before you leave ask for a written list of:
   • Your medications
   • Next steps
   • Date of next appointment

Effective communication and dialogue are the hallmarks of any successful doctor-patient relationship and something everyone should practice—in or out of the doctor’s office.

 Women and Metalic Bone Implants Don’t Click

According to the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery April issue, studies show that women have an increased risk of experiencing adverse local tissue reactions, loosening, and revision after primary metal-on-metal hip resurfacing arthroplasty compared with males.  Arthroplasty is a surgical procedure that entails the replacement, remodeling or realignment of a joint.  Nonetheless, underlying reasons for discrepancies in implant failure between men and women remain unclear. Researchers believe there may be inherent immunological disparities that predispose females to metal sensitivity.

Mylan Pharmaceuticals Recalls EPIPen & EPIPen JR Amid Racketeering Claims

Not only is Mylan Pharmaceuticals facing a class-action lawsuit that claims the company engaged in racketeering to dramatically increase the list price of its EpiPen device to consumers for the last ten years but it is also now also facing a recall of its products. However, allergy sufferers do have alternatives: the Adrenaclick generic now commands 28% of the epinephrine market, and Auvi-Q  just relaunched in February.

For those who use the above products—please note the following recall information according to the FDA:

For more information on the recall from MYLAN, follow their instructions.