Ron Jones

Ronald William Jones (3 October 1939 – 31 March 2025) was a New Zealand obstetrician and gynaecologist. He was a professor at the University of Auckland, and was responsible in the 1980s for exposing the unethical treatment of women with carcinoma in situ of the cervix (now called CIN3 or cervical intrepithelial neoplasia) at National Women's Hospital in Auckland.

Early life and family Jones was born in the Christchurch suburb of Riccarton on 3 October 1939, the son of Ivy Maude Jones (née House) and Sidney Edwin Jones, and grew up in Christchurch. and commenced his medical degree in 1960 at the University of Otago.

In December 1963, Jones' engagement to Barbara Ann Hampton was announced. The couple subsequently married and had four children. There he became concerned about the management of women with carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the cervix by Associate Professor Herb Green who believed that CIS was a benign condition not requiring treatment. Jones adhered to the accepted medical view that CIS was pre-cancerous and should be treated. In 1984 they published a paper entitled The invasive potential of carcinoma in situ of the cervix on the women's outcomes finding patients who had developed invasive cervical cancer and in some cases died. Jones and colleagues, including epidemiologists David Skegg and Charlotte Paul, analysed about 45 years of patient records and published two papers showing that CIS was a precursor for cancer and that limiting treatment resulted in invasive cancer.

In 2009, Jones earned the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Otago; his thesis was titled Aspects of the natural history of lower genital tract intraepithelial neoplasia.

Jones published his own account Doctors in Denial in 2017 detailing the effect on his career of being a medical whistle-blower in order to expose unethical practices and ensure women received the necessary treatment. Royalties from Doctors in Denial were donated to research into gynaecological cancer and the care of patients.

Jones was a clinical professor at the University of Auckland.

Later life and death Jones' wife, Barbara, died of breast cancer in 1990.

Honours and awards Jones was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2009 New Year Honours, for services to women's health. In 2022, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) awarded Jones a Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award "for his work defending patients' rights and scientific integrity and for maintaining the spotlight on these principles". Jones is the only New Zealander to have received this award.

Jones was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.