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Council for Tobacco Research

Lisanti Affidavit in Butler

Date: 24 Feb 1997
Length: 299 pages
70004811-70005109
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Depository Date
12 Mar 1999
Author
Lisanti, V.F., Ctr
Request
Richardson-Lisanti
Deposition
Request
Type
PLEADING
Box
288
UCSF Legacy ID
dma40a00

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1 REDACTED COPY IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF JONES COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI ESTATE OF EARL BUTLER, gi Civil Action No. 94-S-53 ) Plaintiffs, ) THIS VERSION IS SUBMITTED ) EX PARTE AND 2j CAMERA v. ) BECAUSE IT CONTAINS ) PRIVILEGED MATERIAL. A PHILIP MORRIS, INC., REDACTED VERSION IS ) BEING SERVED ON Defendants. ) PLAINTIFFS. ) AFFIDAVIT OF DR. VINCENT F. LISANTI STATE OF NEW YORK ) ) ss.: COUNTY OF NEW YORK ) REDAC T ED COPY VINCENT F. LISANTI, having been duly sworn, hereby declares as follows: 1. 1 was affiliated with The Council for Tobacco Research -- U.S.A., Inc. and The Council for Tobacco Research -- U.S.A. (together, "CTR") for 30 years, from 1964 until 1994. I make this affidavit in response to plaintiffs' contention that CTR participated in an alleged fraud. Personal Backg or und 2. I was born in Rochester, New York on June 23, 1918, and I am 78 years old. I reside in New Jersey.
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3. After attending the University of Rochester, I received a degree in Dental Medicine (D.M.D.) from Tufts University in 1942. I served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946 and attained the rank of Captain. Following World War II, I held a number of teaching positions in the fields of oral medicine and oral cavity research. From 1954 to 1960, I was an Associate Professor of Dental Research at Tufts University and taught Ph.D. candidates at Tufts as well as at Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ("MIT"). Beginning in 1958 1 was a Director and Member of the Institute of Somatological Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was a division of the Science Resources Foundation ("SRF") in Brookline, Massachusetts, a granting and research foundation. I remained affiliated with SRF until 1986. In addition, I have served as a research consultant to the Office of Naval Research, Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Company, Aero-Medical Center of the United States Air Force, the Veteran's Administration, and a number of other pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions. 4. 1 have published accounts of my research in journals such as 31M Archives of Oral Biology, The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Science, The Journal of Bacteriology, Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Lancet. I have been a member of a number of professional organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, International Association for Dental Research, New York Academy of Sciences, American Society of Cell Biology 2 20343071.02
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and the Massachusetts Public Health Association. A copy of my curriculum vitae from CTR's files is attached as Exhibit 1. Affiliation with CTR 5. In about 1963, 1 was invited to apply for a job at CTR by Dr. Robert Hockett, who was the Associate Scientific Director of CTR. I knew Dr. Hockett from his work at the Sugar Research Foundation, where he had been employed before going to CTR. I declined Dr. Hockett's invitation. In June 1964, Dr. Clarence Cook Little called me, saying I had been recommended to him for a position at CTR by Dr. E.B. Wilson, a member of CTR's Scientific Advisory Board ("SAB") of CTR. 6. I met with Dr. Little and was extremely impressed with him on a personal and professional level. We discussed scientific research generally, including the relative merits of directed contract research as compared to undirected grant research. As described below, this was a frequently discussed topic at CTR through much of my tenure there. After meeting again with Dr. Little, and talking to Dr. Hockett, Mr. Tom Hoyt (a non-scientist administrator at CTR) and Mr. Timothy Hartnett (a non-scientist who was the Chairman of CTR), I was offered a full-time position. I declined the full-time position but accepted a part-time position in 1964. No one told me, and I did not believe, that there was any requirement that I hold a particular opinion about smoking and health in order to be hired by CTR. 3 20343071.02
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7. -Iri 1964, my title at CTR was Scientific Associate. My principal function was to monitor the activities of some CTR grantees (and later contract researchers) and report back to CTR as to how its grant-in-aid (and later contract) funds were being spent. I was not concerned with the scientists' research findings, but rather their qualifications, techniques, and procedures. It was not my function to interfere with their research, and I made every effort not to do so. 8. My time commitment to CTR steadily increased over the years, until I was working there virtually full-time in 1967. My title wass changed to Research Associate in 1973. In 1975, I become a full-time employee of CTR and my title was changed to Associate Research Director, which it remained until I retired in 1994. 9. Throughout the 30 years in which I was associated with CTR, its principal function was to award research grants-in-aid to independent scientists around the country and abroad. These awards were made after review and evaluation by the SAB, whose meetings I usually attended. CTR itself did not conduct any scientific research. Structure of CTR 10. When I first came to work for CTR it was an unincorporated association consisting of a committee of representatives of all the sponsor companies. The sponsor companies were most of the major participants in the U.S. tobacco industry. The chief executive officer of the association was the Chairman of the 4 zo3a9o71. oz
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Council. From 1964 to 1969, the Chairman was Timothy Hartnett, formerly of the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. The scientific work of CTR was run by the Scientific Director, Dr. Little. Dr. Little's principal assistant was Dr. Hockett, formerly with MIT and the Sugar Research Foundation, an industry research organization. 11. In 1971, CTR changed from an unincorporated association to a non- profit corporation. A Board of Directors (consisting of representatives of the sponsor companies) was created, as well as a President and other corporate officers. 12. The Scientific Directors of CTR were distinguished scientists with no affiliation to the tobacco industry other than their work at CTR. The Scientific Directors whom I worked under were Dr. Clarence Cook Little (until 1971), Dr. William Gardner (1973-1981), Dr. Sheldon C. Sommers (1981-1987), Dr. James F. Glenn (1988-1991), and Dr. Harmon McAllister (1991). In addition, Dr. Hockett, who was the Associate Scientific Director from 1955 to 1972, was Acting Scientific Director from 1972 to 1973. Their curricula vitae are attached as Exhibit 2. Each of the Scientific Directors considered it one of his principal duties to foster and preserve the scientific integrity of the CTR. 13. 1 understand that Dr. McAllister and Dr. Glenn are submitting affidavits to this Court. Dr. Little, CTR's first Scientific Director at the time I joined CTR, was then one of the greatest living contributors to the science of cancer. He was 5 20343071.02
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a Fellow of the gational Academy of Sciences, founder of the Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, and a former managing director of the organization that became the American Cancer Society. The Scientific Director after him, Dr. Gardner, had been a Professor at Yale University Medical School and was a past President of the International Union Against Cancer. Dr. Sommers, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, had been a Professor of Pathology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of Laboratories at Lenox Hill Hospital. 14. CTR also had the Scientific Advisory Board ("SAB"), an Executive Committee of the SAB (consisting of several SAB members and the Scientific Director) and an Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. To the best of my knowledge CTR never had a "Committee of Counsel," a "Research Review Committee," an "Ad Hoc Committee" or a "Research Liaison Committee." 15. CTR has no relationship with the Tobacco Institute other than, I believe, an overlap in membership. To the best of my knowledge, the Tobacco [nstitute's employees have not been involved in CTR's activities during my 30 years at CTR. The Scientific Advisory Board 16. During my affiliation with CTR, the SAB met at least twice, and early on as many as four times, each year to review applications for research grants-in- 6 20343071.02
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aid. These applications were received from independent scientists who sought grants from CTR. Each application was assigned to a subcommittee of two to four SAB members with expertise in that scientific field (augmented by outside consultants where necessary). Those members reviewed and prepared written critiques of the application. These reviews were distributed to the full SAB, which would discuss each application at its meetings. The SAB would decide which applications were approved or disapproved for funding. Beginning in about 1973, each approved application was given a score of 1 to 5 by each SAB member, and SAB members' scores for each application were averaged to arrive at a composite score for the application. (In the early 1990s, the SAB adopted a procedure whereby the SAB rated all acceptable applications, but designated others as "non-rated" rather than "disapproved. ") 17. The final decision-making as to funding was entrusted to CTR's Scientific Director, with the understanding that those decisions would adhere closely to the SAB's evaluation. The Scientific Director reported his funding decisions to the SAB at its next meeting. By reviewing and evaluating grant applications in this way, the SAB functioned much like a peer review board of the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association. Once the amounts approved by the SAB began to regularly exceed CTR's budget (in the early 1970's), the Scientific Director was unable to fund all grants approved by the SAB. This is reflected in the SAB minutes for March 14-16, 1973, paragraph 4(2) at page 4, a copy 7 20343071.02
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of which is attaclied as Exhibit 3. To the best of my knowledge, the Scientific Director did not fund any grant or contract that had not been approved by the SAB. 18. I attended over 90 SAB meetings from 1964 to 1994. These sessions were extremely educational. They were filled with lively and thoughtful debates about the grant-in-aid applications and research contracts, as well as about scientific issues generally. I also attended about 35 SAB Executive Committee meetings. 19. In evaluating grant-in-aid applications, the SAB's primary considerations were the scientific merit of the applications and their relevance to smoking and health. In the 90-plus SAB meetings that I attended, I do not believe that the SAB ever rejected a grant application because it proposed research the results of which might be detrimental to the tobacco industry. The SAB members cared about promoting science and making a contribution to scientific knowledge, not about the potential impact of any scientific research on the interests of the tobacco companies. 20. SAB meetings were attended by SAB members and by the administrative officers and scientific staff of CTR. Only the SAB members and the Scientific Director ever voted on grant applications. On occasion, guest scientists were present. Most SAB meetings were attended by a representative of the Industry Technical Committee ("ITC"), which consisted of tobacco company scientists. The sole function of the ITC with regard to CTR was to provide information to the SAB, 8 20343071.02
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upon request, about technical aspects of proposed research that related to cigarette composition and tobacco smoke chemistry. No other industry representatives generally attended SAB meetings. 21. Leonard Zahn, a consultant to CTR whose principal functions were to attend and report on medical meetings and to prepare CTR's Annual Report and press releases, also attended SAB meetings. Mr. Zahn had no influence over the SAB's deliberations and evaluations. 22. One SAB meeting that I attended, in April 1978, was attended by CTR's attorney, Edwin Jacob. Other than that, I do not ever recall a lawyer attending an SAB meeting during my tenure. (During my affiliation with CTR, three officers of CTR were lawyers: Henry Ramm, Addison Yeaman, and Robert Gertenbach. They attended SAB meetings in their role as CTR officers.) 23. During my 30 years with CTR, I knew all but four of the 43 scientists who have served as SAB members during CTR's history. The names of all 43 and their affiliations are presented on the list of SAB members that is attached as Exhibit 4. I never met Dr. Julius Comroe, and have not met Dr. Carlo M. Croce, Dr. David Sabatini, or Dr. Hugh O' Neil McDevitt, because they did not serve during my tenure at CTR. The SAB was an extremely impressive group of scientists. The scientists on the SAB were prominent leaders in their fields, with a national or international reputation. 9 20343071.02
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24. Four SAB members I knew were employees of the National Cancer Institute ("NCI"), which is part of the federal government: Dr. Paul Kotin (an SAB member from 1954 to 1965 who was with NCI beginning in about 1962), Dr. Harry Andervont (an SAB member from 1964 to 1966 and from 1970 to 1974), Dr. Robert Huebner (an SAB member from 1968 to 1981), and Dr. Peter Howley (an SAB member from 1982 to 1986). Thus, for almost 24 years from 1962 to 1986, there was an NCI employee on the SAB. Independence of the SAB 25. The members of the SAB were scientists and persons of great integrity. The SAB members were interested in helping to fund research that would further scientific truth and contribute to scientific progress -- not in advancing the interests of the tobacco companies. There was no uniformity of views about smoking and health on the SAB. The members of the SAB felt strongly about their independence from control by the tobacco companies. Any statement or suggestion that the evaluations and recommendations of the SAB were controlled or influenced by the tobacco companies is simply false. 26. I have reviewed a handwritten note, dated March 28, 1973, that apparently was sent from Dr. Helmut Wakeham of Philip Morris to Dr. Hockett of CTR. A copy of this note is attached as Exhibit 5. That note appears to contain Dr. Wakeham's "rating" of CTR grant applications that were considered by the SAB during 10 20343071.02

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