Capstones
Graduation Date
Fall 12-18-2020
Grading Professor
Marshall Allen
Subject Concentration
Health & Science
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Abstract
Medical devices that save the lives of thousands of Americans each year advance at a rapid pace - but some of them consistently leave women behind. When it comes to joint replacements and even heart devices, women have worse health outcomes. Behind this preventable problem is a system that overlooks women from start to finish. Female bodies are different from male bodies, but women are often underrepresented in medical trials for device approval. Women’s participation in clinical testing for devices has increased, but there’s rarely a detailed analysis of performance by sex, and even less information on women by race or age. Lax regulations and bias in medicine also make it difficult to identify the problems and correct them.
The story follows the case of Linda Radach, a woman whose hip replacements failed again and again - to reveal why and how the medical device industry and the people tasked with keeping it in check have failed female patients with medical devices that shouldn’t have been put into their bodies.
Recommended Citation
Putka, Sophie N., "Hips that harm: when medical devices fail women" (2020). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gj_etds/440
Animation explaining hip replacement
TitleGIFdarker.gif (75 kB)
GIF with hip replacement and heart
CombinedHighlight.pdf (862 kB)
Supporting documents with highlights
1_OriginalShellLefthip.jpg (3205 kB)
Photo 1 of hip replacement component - photo courtesy of Linda Radach
2_FirstRevisionLeftHip.png (1469 kB)
Photo 2 of hip replacement component - photo courtesy of Linda Radach
RightHipwScratching.jpg (3428 kB)
Photo 3 of hip replacement component - photo courtesy of Linda Radach
Included in
Equipment and Supplies Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Orthopedics Commons, Women's Health Commons