1. Introduction: An Inquiry into Cervical Cancer -- 2. Carcinoma in Situ: Meanings and Medical Significance -- 3. Management of Patients with Carcinoma in Situ -- 4. The Therapeutic Relationship and Patient Consent -- 5. A Profession Divided -- 6. Population-based Cervical Screening -- 7. Four Women Take on the Might of the Medical Profession -- 8. The Cervical Cancer Inquiry and the f̀ull story' -- 9. Media Wars: The Report's Reception -- 10. New World, Better World? Implementing Cartwright -- 11. The Aftermath: Public Perceptions of Unethical Practice -- 12. Conclusion: An Ùnfortunate Experiment'?
Summary
"T̀his is an impressive book, tackling a grave and sensitive episode in the history of medicine, women and feminism. Bryder reveals much about the public understanding (and misunderstanding) of science, the role of the media, and democratic practice in a world increasingly understood, managed and explained by cultures of expertise.'---Janet McCalman, Centre for Health and Society, University of Melbourne, Australia" "P̀rofessor Bryder has addressed a question that has remained inadequately investigated for over a quarter of a century. What was the "generally accepted", "conventional" treatment for abnormal cervical cytology which women in Auckland were allegedly denied in the late 1960s and 1970s? Her thorough review of international practice at that time makes clear that there was no generally accepted treatment, a fact that reflected the haphazard way in which screening for cancer of the cervix had been introduced and evaluated.'---Iain Chalmers, James Lind Library, Oxford, UK" "In 1987 a scandal erupted in New Zealand, following allegations that a doctor at National Women's Hospital had allowed some women to develop cervical cancer while conducting research into the disease. An official inquiry concluded that doctors had failed their patients. This book revisits that important episode in New Zealand's social and medical history, examining the factors which led to the Inquiry and whether it was correct in its assessment that patient welfare had been compromised in the interest of science. In addressing that question, crucial aspects within the history of medicine and public health are explored: the use and interpretation of medical technology, randomized controlled trials, population screening, public understandings of science, the status of doctors in the late twentieth century, and doctor-patient relationships. This history of the interface of medicine with society in the second half of the twentieth century has relevance well beyond New Zealand."--BOOK JACKET.
