Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 14
Gillibrand to Hold First Congressional Menopause Hearing on Sept. 17
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 14

Gillibrand to Hold First Congressional Menopause Hearing on Sept. 17

1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 14

Summary

  • Thursday’s hearing will mark the first time Congress has formally examined menopause, with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand using it to elevate an issue she says Washington has largely ignored.
  • Gillibrand plans to argue menopause is severely under-researched and underfunded, and to press for more federal money to study it.
  • She also wants changes in medical training and care, saying many clinicians are unprepared to help women manage symptoms that can be debilitating and long-lasting.
  • The push comes as Democrats center health-care costs and Trump-era research cuts in the midterm fight for Senate control, even though menopause has been mostly absent from that debate.

Insights

With menopause costing billions in lost work, what hidden health crisis will this unprecedented congressional hearing finally expose?
Why are millions of women being pushed toward major surgeries when safer, specialized menopause treatments remain largely inaccessible?
If standard lab tests fail to diagnose perimenopause, how many women are silently suffering through severe symptoms without medical answers?