Cancer scandal to be TV film

By LOUISA CLEAVE television editor

A dramatised television feature will be made of the cervical cancer scandal that rocked the country a decade ago.

The "unfortunate experiment" at National Women's Hospital in Auckland - where women with cancer were left untreated - will be told through the eyes of the woman who exposed the story in an article written by Phillida Bunkle and Sandra Coney in Metro magazine.

Clare Matheson, then known only as "Ruth," will be portrayed by an actor in the two-hour movie, which has been given $1 million by NZ On Air.

The programme will be produced by Dave Gibson and screened in primetime on TV One next year.

Mr Gibson said Clare Matheson's story would personalise the story, which would span 20 years and culminate in the inquiry headed by Dame Silvia Cartwright.

Actors are still to be cast in the key roles of Clare Matheson, Dame Silvia and the authors of the expose.

Mr Gibson said TVNZ had approved the movie a long time ago but it had been pulled after a staff change.

"A while ago we went back to TVNZ and they were really enthusiastic about it and they've been very keen.

"I think very much people see the story as having some relevance these days."

Clare Matheson said it was appropriate that the story be told now but she did not believe the Gisborne cancer inquiry had spurred support for the television project.

"The two cases are entirely different."

She said that a decade on, it was still important to tell the story of the experiment.

"I think young women need to be aware of the kind of things that can happen ... so that they must not always take what they are told as gospel."