Medical gaslighting—the systematic dismissal, minimization, or psychologization of women's physical symptoms within healthcare settings—represents one of the most insidious forms of gender inequality in modern medicine. While women globally demonstrate a survival advantage over men in overall life expectancy, this metric masks a devastating paradox: women spend significantly more years living with chronic illness, disability, and undiagnosed disease. This narrative review examines the empirical evidence linking gender bias in clinical diagnosis and treatment to delayed care, misdiagnosis, and excess mortality among female patients. Drawing upon recent survey data, peer-reviewed literature, and epidemiological analyses, we demonstrate that women face disproportionate rates of diagnostic delay across more than 700 pathologies, experience longer wait times for pain management, and receive less aggressive intervention for cardiovascular events. The article traces the historical roots of medical gaslighting from the legacy of "hysteria" to contemporary clinical practice, analyzes the mortality implications of delayed diagnosis in cardiology, autoimmune disease, and chronic pain, and examines how the underrepresentation of women in medical research perpetuates these disparities. We argue that medical gaslighting is not merely a communication failure but a structural determinant of premature mortality. The review concludes with evidence-based recommendations for systemic reform, including sex-specific diagnostic protocols, implicit bias training, and mandatory sex-disaggregated outcome reporting. Addressing these inequities is essential not only for ethical clinical practice but for reducing preventable deaths among female patients worldwide.

Medical gaslighting, gender bias, diagnostic delay, female mortality, healthcare disparities, Yentl syndrome, cardiovascular disease, endometriosis, chronic pain, clinical trials

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