Herbert Green, the doctor at the centre of the Cartwright cervical cancer inquiry, has died in hospital.
Dr Green's controversial research was carried out for 20 years at Auckland's National Women's Hospital - beginning in the 1960s - and looked at the progress of women with a pre-cancerous condition known as
carcinoma in situ.
Without their knowledge, some of the women under his care were treated more conservatively than the usual medical practice at the time, while others were not treated at all.
Dr Green believed the pre-cancerous condition did not automatically lead to cancer and that radical treatment like hysterectomies could be avoided.
Dame Silvia Cartwright headed the seven-month inquiry, into the treatment at National Women's Hospital which began in 1987.
It was sparked by an article published in Metro magazine, written by Sandra Coney and Phillida Bunkle.
The inquiry found that some patients had received inadequate treatment, and in some cases the women had died as a result.
Dr Green and three other doctors were charged with multiple cases of disgraceful conduct by the Medical Council, although Dr Green's charges were later dropped.
The Medical Council found Dr Green, then aged 74, was not mentally or physically fit to defend the charges.
Dr Green had been unwell for several years. He died on Sunday aged 84.
* Read more in tomorrow's Herald
