Closing "The Pain Gap" in Healthcare with Author Anushay Hossain

SPECIAL EPISODE 2 — When host Priya Bathija first read The Pain Gap: How Sexism and Racism in Healthcare Kill Women by Anushay Hossain during a holiday break, she found herself  highlighting the jaw-dropping stats on page after page. In this powerful special episode of Priya's Picks, Priya sits down with Anushay—author, activist, and podcast host—to explore the lethal realities of medical gaslighting and systemic bias in the U.S. healthcare system. After nearly dying during childbirth, Anushay transformed her personal trauma into a crusade to expose the "pain gap," the "knowledge gap," and the systemic refusal to believe women's lived experiences. Together, they discuss why maternal mortality disproportionately impacts women of color, how to navigate doctor burnout, and why putting your own health first is an act of necessity, not selfishness.

In this episode, we walk you through these key topics:

• The Pain Gap Defined: How systemic biases cause healthcare providers to dismiss, misdiagnose, or delay treating women's pain compared to men's pain (e.g., waiting 45 minutes longer in emergency rooms).
• The Credibility & Knowledge Gap: The history behind why women were excluded from clinical trials until 1993, and why society regularly assumes women are "hysterical," "dramatic," or "drug-seeking" when reporting severe symptoms.
• Maternal Mortality & Racial Disparities: Unpacking why Black women are 243% (3 to 4 times) more likely to die in childbirth than white women, regardless of income, education, or celebrity status.
• Perimenopause, PMDD & Hormonal Literacy: How a lack of medical training around female hormones leaves millions of women navigating midlife conditions completely unassisted.
• Viewing Healthcare as a Team Effort: Why you—the patient—are the most critical member of your medical team, and how finding a collaborative clinician can change your life.
• Breaking the "Self-Abandonment" Cycle: Why women are socialized to treat their own pain as an inconvenience, and how to start putting on your own oxygen mask first.

Explore more episodes and get the full breakdown including show notes, tactics, resources, and the complete transcript at womenshealthplaybook.com. And, to get additional tips and strategies, subscribe to our Substack at womenshealthplaybook.substack.com.