Story: Magazines and periodicals

In 1987 Metropublished an article which had a huge national impact. The story, by Phillida Bunkle and Sandra Coney, alleged that unethical research had been carried out on women patients at National Women's Hospital in Auckland. Leading researchers at the hospital had allowed some women with cervical lesions to go untreated to see if the lesions developed into invasive cancer. A few of these patients subsequently died. The government set up a judicial inquiry (known as the Cartwright Inquiry) to investigate the claims, and it found the allegations to be largely correct. This resulted in new measures to better protect patients' interests and rights.