A study published in the latest issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly found gender biases and long-standing gender discrepancies in who gets bypass surgery. In 1988, twelve percent of female patients who had profiles consistent with the bypass surgery received it-- as compared to twenty-four percent of men.
In 1998, among similar types of patients, twenty percent of females received heart bypass, compared to thirty-three percent of men. The relative odds of a woman meeting the criteria but not receiving the surgery were approximately double that of comparable men. The author, Cheryl B. Travis, explains, "There was compelling evidence of a pernicious gender bias and a general failure to treat women in a proactive manner that extended over a decade."