# Alice Tapper, daughter of CNN's Jake, tells her appendicitis misdiagnosis story **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620 "2022-12-15T23:35:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/21 "2022-12-17T17:23:05Z")
FWIW I don’t necessarily object to the adaptation of my quote as I assumed that was the meaning the poster was aiming for and they were open about what they were doing but as a mod it is for you to give guidance. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/22 "2022-12-17T17:31:47Z")
I moderate another board, and it would be fine there. But this board takes a very strict line on modifying quotes. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/23 "2022-12-17T17:43:06Z")
> [@bump](#): > > > [@echoreply](#): > > > > The lesson I learned was for the most part the doctors were great _once they decided there was a big problem_. Next time I need to strongly advocate that something is wrong with this kid, don’t just send us away. ⁢ > > Reading between the lines on this thread, I’m starting to wonder if there’s a huge population of giant whiners and hypochondriacs out there who basically make doctors skeptical with non-issues, so that when someone who’s sort of stoic comes in, they’re automatically skeptical. My experience is that they’re more likely to think this for kids, women, and people with anxiety disorders. It’s a bias issue. Even a hypochondriac should have tests done to rule out urgent issues. That’s what my doctor did when I went in for a possible heart attack due to chest pains. He made sure to check anything that could be an actual emergency. He’s not always the most evidence-based doctor out there, but he believes me. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/24 "2022-12-17T20:21:41Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Even a hypochondriac should have tests done to rule out urgent issues. I went to the doctor with a list of complaints and he told me I had hypochondria, I said “Oh, christ! not that as well” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/25 "2022-12-17T20:47:13Z")
From what I’ve read elsewhere, doctors in America tend to misdiagnose or dismiss symptoms from women and people of color. Part of that is that many of the standards were developed for adult white men. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/26 "2022-12-17T22:56:45Z")
All of your questions are YES x 10,000, and the opiate crisis has made it even worse. People are also quick to assume that if something bad happens to a girl or woman, it was BECAUSE she was a girl or woman, and not because she happened to cross paths with the wrong people or situation, even if those bad things were done by other girls or women. (I avoided the word “female/s” on purpose.) ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/27 "2022-12-17T22:57:24Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > My experience is that they’re more likely to think this for kids, women, and people with anxiety disorders. It’s a bias issue. So much this. I had a PT make fun of me because I didn’t know the medical name of the area that was causing me pain. WTF? Am I a medical professional? No. What did make me snigger afterwards was discovering her name was Karen. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/28 "2022-12-17T23:01:48Z")
The influx of women and people of color, any color, into the medical field, and OB/GYN in particular, has actually made things worse, not better. Anecdote: Over the decades, I have heard WAAAAAAAAAAY more horror stories about female OB/GYNs than male ones. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/29 "2022-12-18T01:29:13Z")
That and no one seems to be interested in funding the same research on women. As for POC, I’ve heard stories that a lot of doctors are still being taught that POC have tougher skin than white people do. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/30 "2022-12-18T01:32:12Z")
Also I remember hearing that doctors believe (falsely, of course) that black people have higher pain tolerance than white people, so doctors don’t provide them with sufficient pain meds. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/31 "2022-12-18T02:01:14Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > People are also quick to assume that if something bad happens to a girl or woman, it was BECAUSE she was a girl or woman, and not because she happened to cross paths with the wrong people or situation, even if those bad things were done by other girls or women. (I avoided the word “female/s” on purpose.) There are also people who are very very slow to assume that if something bad happens to a girl or a woman, it was because she was a girl or woman. They refuse to accept any explanation that involves sexism if they can come up with any other possible explanation. More discerning people, without an agenda to push, know to look for patterns. If you see a pattern of women being treated differently than men, sexism is a likely explanation. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/32 "2022-12-18T06:51:38Z")
That is true, and so, for that matter, is the reverse. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/33 "2022-12-18T09:08:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you see a pattern of women being treated differently than men, sexism is a likely explanation. This is true, when you look at the amount of funding to various comparable sex-specific cancers for instance, the funding for female cancers are much higher than for male cancers. I’m not sure why that should be but it is possible that sexist stereotypes and expectations play some part in it. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/34 "2022-12-18T15:10:07Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > That and no one seems to be interested in funding the same research on women. As for POC, I’ve heard stories that a lot of doctors are still being taught that POC have tougher skin than white people do. It’s incredibly deep. 40 years ago i was a lab technician, and we used expensive designer mice. K they were generically obese in a way that was relevant to our research.) The doctor i worked for told me he bought female mice because they were cheaper, because there’s more demand for male mice! So much more demand that it affected the price. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620/35 "2022-12-18T16:45:47Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > This is true, when you look at the amount of funding to various comparable sex-specific cancers for instance, the funding for female cancers are much higher than for male cancers. It depends on how you define sex-specific cancers. Breast cancer, which receives a lot of research funds, is associated with women but affects both sexes (although it is far more common in women). If you’re looking at specifically gendered cancers, research for men’s cancers receive more funding than women’s. Breast Cancer - $102,914,200 Prostate Cancer - $41,650,102 Ovarian Cancer - $21,336,500 Cervical cancer - $11,778,450 These are [2021 figures](https://www.cancer.org/research/currently-funded-cancer-research/grants-by-cancer-type.html). Another way to rank funding is to compare the frequency of cancer types with the amount of funding they receive. The four most common cancer types in order are breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and colon-rectal cancer. The four cancer types which receive the most funding in order are breast cancer, colon-rectal cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alice-tapper-daughter-of-cnns-jake-tells-her-appendicitis-misdiagnosis-story/976620.md?page=1)