Women have historically been overlooked in medical research, but intentionally excluding them was cemented into policy in the 1970s. In 1977, the Food and Drug Administration created a guideline that recommended excluding women of childbearing age from phase I and early phase II drug trials in response to a widespread tragedy linked to the anti-morning sickness drug thalidomide, according to the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women's Health. 

The impact of overlooking women in clinical trials
Bias against female subjects starts to "creep in at the development stage, years before drugs reach patients," said the Financial Times. Scientists say that preclinical testing has, at times, focused disproportionately on male animals and male cells. When medicine reaches the human trials stage, women are still underrepresented.

Research reinforces the idea that women suffer from this male-centric approach to developing medicine. Since 2000, women in the U.S. have reported "total adverse events," defined as "any untoward medical occurrence," 52% more frequently than men and severe or fatal events 36% more frequently, according to Food and Drug Administration data gathered by the McKinsey Health Institute.

"Historically, the white male body has been seen as the scientific norm, so there's a sense that 'whatever we find in men will apply to women,'" Jill Fisher, a professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina Center for Bioethics, said to the Financial Times. This assumption, which is also evident in the lack of racial diversity, has been "very difficult to change in the culture of science."

Trying to reverse the trend
The White House has taken notice of the lack of attention to women's health in medical research. In November 2023, the president and first lady launched the White House initiative on women's health research, with first lady Jill Biden taking the lead. Research on women's health has been "underfunded for decades, and many conditions that mostly or only affect women or affect women differently have received little to no attention," the first lady said when she announced the initiative.

Progress has been slow, but in the meantime, underrepresented communities should continue to ask questions and put pressure on the whole drug development pipeline. "Drug companies, and all of us, need to see that the group most at risk for adverse outcomes is going to be the sex that's often left out," Teresa Woodruff, a Michigan State University Research Foundation professor, said to the Financial Times. "And that, right now, is women."

Power lunches, feedback meetings and financial integration might not sound romantic, but some couples claim running their relationship like a company is the key to domestic bliss. With modern technology offering endless ways to organize our lives, a growing number of people are taking a more businesslike approach to marriage. 

'Regular power lunches' 
Following a decade of marriage, Sarah Wheeler and her husband committed to "better manage" her family, she said at Romper. And even though the phrase gives her "visions of PowerPoint presentations," she admits the "project" of her family was "in need of some regular power lunches." 

The alternative was letting the "mundane" things "leak into the fun parts" of her life. And she found that other couples were using project management tools found in offices, from Trello and Google Calendars to virtual assistance programs such as Plan to Eat or Paprika for meal planning. 

Husbands and wives hoping for a "durable romantic partnership" could also benefit from looking at the "characteristics of a merger," said Arthur C. Brooks at The Atlantic. Just like a corporate merger, marriages need "financial integration." 

'Biz-nifying' home life 
Getting domestic chores organized in black and white could even be useful in tackling gender disparity in the home. In Spain, the government has developed a free app to log how much time each family member spends on chores, to shed light on the "mental load" that is "overwhelmingly" carried by women, said The Guardian. 

"I can absolutely see how business principles will help our family life," said Genevieve Roberts at i news. She maintains a joint diary and doesn't know how she would "cope" without "sports days, school trips and end-of-year-shows blocked out." The increased organization and efficiency of the shared calendar inspired her to "try 'biz-nifying'" her home life more, including a "regularly scheduled family meeting." 

There's a limit, though. She and her husband "share a loathing of corporate jargon," so they are "safe from doubling down on housework and circling back on DIY."