title: Women and power: how can we change the system?
abstract: In 1988 a judicial Committee of Inquiry was commissioned to investigate allegations concerning research undertaken at National Women's Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, on women with cervical abnormalities. The inquiry found that this and other research had been undertaken and that senior academic and clinical staff had known but that the women had rarely been informed. Their report found that many women had been undertreated and some had died. The findings stimulated widespread public debate on issues of medical ethics. The report made recommendations for reform, but few have been implemented. These events and an analysis of the resistance to reform, especially on issues concerning patient rights and medical ethics, are the focus of this article.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bunkle
mesh_terms: D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012106:Research / Q000592:standards*; D002577:Uterine Cervical Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D016387:Women's Health