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Title: Unequal Relief: Sex Disparities in Opioid Use for Cardiac Chest Pain in the Emergency Department

Category: Administration

Posted: 7/18/2026 by Kevin Semelrath, MD (Updated: 7/21/2026)

This study looked at rate of administration and time difference between male and female patients presenting with cardiac chest pain receiving morphine.

While initially they found no difference, several confounders painted a different picture:

significant differences in door-to-doc times, higher vs lower triage level and decision to admit all had women at a disadvantage and after adjusting for those, also found a gender based difference , with men receiving morphine more frequently.

Another example of unconscious bias and gender bias we should all be more mindful of

Additional Information

Druck J, Kurdi DA, Shubair M, Ahlat R, Hunt-Smith TT, Darwish R, Awad E. Unequal Relief: Sex Disparities in Opioid Use for Cardiac Chest Pain in the Emergency Department. West J Emerg Med. 2026 Apr 8;27(3):605-613. doi: 10.5811/westjem.50599. PMID: 42258869; PMCID: PMC13246197.


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