Until 1993, women were mostly excluded from federally funded clinical trials in the United States. Not overlooked. Not underfunded. Excluded.
Through the relentless advocacy of women and their allies, on June 10, 1993, the U.S. government passed the NIH Revitalization Act, a law - not a suggestion - that women and minorities be included in federally funded research and clinical trials.
On #EqualResearchDay — created by the co-founders of Evvy to mark that turning point — It's Not a Purse is releasing a preview of Episode One of the upcoming documentary series A Study on Trial: The Women’s Health Initiative Revisited, which takes an unflinching look at the promise of the WHI, the harmful turn it took in 2002 and how the medical community is restoring trust.
In this preview, narrator, creator, and executive producer Ami Armstrong is joined by the researchers, doctors, authors, and advocates who have spent their careers doing the work to close the women’s health gap:
Laine Bruzek: co-founder of Evvy and co-creator of #EqualResearchDay, https://www.Evvy.com
Kathryn Schubert: President & CEO, Society for Women's Health Research, https://www.SWHR.com
Dr. Sharonne Hayes: Cardiologist and women's health researcher, Mayo Clinic, https://www.womenheart.org/dr-sharonne-hayes/
Maya Dusenbery: Author, Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick, https://www.mayadusenbery.com/
Paula Bellostas Muguerza: Senior Partner and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice Leader at Kearney, https://www.kearney.com/about/people/bio/paula-bellostas
It's Not a Purse is a new documentary program that takes a deep dive into events in modern history that have impacted the lives of women. Follow us on Instagram at: @ItsNotaPursePod
Season One is for people who know that "women's health" isn't a niche; it's half the population that medicine has overwhelmingly ignored.
A Study on Trial: The Women’s Health Initiative Revisited launches .
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What is It's Not a Purse?
It's Not a Purse is a documentary podcast series that revisits events from modern history that have impacted the lives of women.
Each season, we investigate a timeline of pivotal moments where institutions, politics and media made decisions with life altering consequences for women's health, opportunity access and autonomy.
In Season 1, A Study on Trial: The Women's Health Initiative Revisited, we go back to July 9, 2002. On that day, the NIH held a press conference where they inaccurately stated that HRT lacked benefits and caused breast cancer — claims that did not match the data from their own study. The media frenzy caused millions of women and physicians to unnecessarily abandon HRT overnight. The fallout reshaped how a generation of women and doctors approached the treatment of menopause symptoms for decades.
You'll hear the voices of many who were there, those who have contributed to the milestones of progress as they unfold, and the series host Ami Armstrong's own perspective as a curious person trying to figure out if creating awareness through storytelling can help to close the women's health and opportunity gaps.