Patients and clinicians urge creation of endometriosis task force after years of delayed diagnoses

Dozens of patients, clinicians and advocates urged the Joint Committee on Public Health to create an endometriosis task force, telling lawmakers that long diagnostic delays and inconsistent care are causing severe harm.

Patients described long paths to diagnosis — often many years and multiple specialists — and a range of outcomes from infertility to near‑death complications. "I suffered for over a decade before I was officially diagnosed," said Caitlin Culpe Welsh, a registered nurse, who described months of hospitalization and multiple referrals before excision surgery identified advanced disease.

Clinici…