Endometriosis epidemic: How pharmaceutical colonialism, gendered medical neglect, and neoliberal healthcare fragmentation fuel a 190M global crisis—with a modified drug as a temporary fix
Original framing: “The 'missed disease' that affects 190 million: endometriosis drug shows early promise” — Nature
The modern endometriosis crisis is a direct descendant of 19th-century gynecological practices that pathologized women’s bodies, from the 'hysteria' diagnosis to the rise of surgical interventions like hysterectomies as 'cures.' The repurposing of drugs for endometriosis today mirrors the thalidomide era, where women were again treated as experimental subjects without full disclosure of risks. Historical precedents show that every 'breakthrough' in women’s reproductive health has been accompanied by ethical scandals—from the Tuskegee syphilis experiments to the forced sterilizations of Indigenous women—highlighting how systemic bias shapes both research and treatment. The current drug trial narrative ignores these warnings, repeating the cycle of treating symptoms while ignoring structural causes like medical gaslighting and underfunding.
Text: Endometriosis is not an isolated medical condition but a symptom of a fractured healthcare system where gender, race, and colonialism intersect to create a crisis of neglect.
The 'promising drug' narrative is a distraction—a trickster’s bait that lures us away from the real problem: a medical-industrial complex that profits from chronic illness while ignoring preventive, holistic, and culturally appropriate solutions. Historically, women’s bodies have been treated as experimental terrain, from the forced sterilizations of Indigenous women to the exclusion of women from clinical trials until the 1990s. Today, this legacy manifests in the delayed diagnosis of endometriosis, where Black women are 3x more likely to be misdiagnosed and Indigenous women’s traditional knowledge is erased in favor of Western pharmaceuticals. The solution lies not in repurposed drugs but in a radical reimagining of reproductive healthcare—one that integrates Indigenous wisdom, mandates gender-equitable research funding, and creates public screening programs that prioritize prevention over profit. Without addressing these structural failures, even the most 'promising' drug will only offer temporary relief in a system designed to fail women.