Tobacco Documents Online

January 7, 195~ Dear Dr, Parmele~ ..y..~.~. Since our meeting the other day, I,ve g~ over the ~nuscrlpt a number of %imps and have read ev~rythlng of recent date ~hat I could find o~ ~he cigarette c~troversy, includiag the Confidential, True, Esquire and Ha~per,s artlcl~s~ In wlew of all the co~plica-~ons, I think that the best bet for la~ding am articl~ favorable to filter cigarettes in a popular ~mgazine of importance wo~Id be along these lirms$ Let Dr. Fishbein sign and place the article, la fact, I think the less open identification of th~ t,bacco industry • with. it the better the chance of it being ~ublish~d and, if published, of its reassuring re~ders. Dr. Fishbein,s M.D. stand- i~g would help in this direction a~d from what I earn flmd of his previous writiag o~ the subject in his cyclop.edia, for ex~e, it would ~t be i~onsis%ent %o do the article. " A~ he has received s~me encouragement at Coll~er,s, I ~ he should pursue it with ~ m~ga~me, either talking with Paul S~ith or scmebody else there when he i~ here or ~u~itting a rough draft. It might save a lot of time for Dr. Fishbein to %talk %0 scmebody over there and see if they have a~ specific surges%ions. ~e shouldn,t do this, ho~ever, until he has been given ever2%hlug possible ~u the way of in- formation. He should be familiar with the enclosed Albert Q. M~isel article "Don,t Smoke U~less Y~u Have To" which Collier,s published November 4, 1950~ and alSO the editorial Of ~anu/ry i0, i~53, in which Cellist's took issue with later Reader,s ~ articles. S~bod~ may raise the question as--~~her enough new has happened since the Maisel piece to Justify Collier,s again going into ~he subject. I doa,t think this will ~ult to ar~wer.

It seems to me that the story-line should be that the cancer connection still has not been established but, if one exists, the filters - especially the Kent - greatly minimize it and, if som~ cancer-c~usiRg agent should be found in cigarettes that does pass present filters, the expectation i~ as you point o~t in yo~r manuscript, that a combination chemical and mechanical filter could be devised and people ,. could go on smoking. Cr~ll-Collier is eager to cultivate tmsin~ss right • now, as evinced by "The Life and Tim~s of ~etty C~ocker, m in the current __~man,s_ Home ~, hilt at the same tame probably is timorous abou~ ~ffending a~y ~m~ortant segments so the fact that all major tobacco companies n~ offer filter cigarettes probably should be pointed out to theme The mags~im~ probably would limit what D~. Fishbein could say about Karats but, wi~h a mAu ~f his standing, I don't think they would change his m@mascript without consulting ~ The fact that Dr. Fishbein does not smoke himself I don't think matters too much. It might give him s~ stand- ing as a neutrml observer, but it wo~bd be ~ice f~r hla t~ say, if it is a fact, that his family and friends still sm~ks and, as long as they don,t come dowa with s~mething like Buarger,s disease~ he k~ws of no reason to tell them to stop. .. I don,t think it would be too difficult for • medical man of Dr. Fish, elm, s expertness to torpedo a l~t of ~he atatA~tics that are being fossil ar~l on the subJect~ If the wiping out of all forms of cancer would add only about a year to life ex- pectations as Dr. X~xis I. Dublin, then Me tro~oll tam Life s~tis- titian, polate~ out some y~ars ago in his book~$_.~ of ~.~_~e, I simply don,t u~derstand the basis of claims~-- ~ from Berkeley, CaLifornia, on page o~e of th~ New York ~ , December 31, im which a physicist sa~-~ c~ years of llfe and every package shortens • smokmr,s existence by si~ hours, If m~ facts are correct, I think that it wo~Id be of great interest to include ~r perhaps start with the fact that Senator Robert Taft died of lung cancer and did not smoke at all. In general, the article to get over in a big megasine will have to have considerable information and entertai~nent value and mast be written in plain language, some other word, for a~e, than otolazy~gologist.

Dr. Harris B. Parmele -3- January 7, 1955 K little humor also ~ould do no ~B~m if it can b~ t~rned up. Yo~ ~y ~ the ~s~h fr~ Lo~n a ~e ~ck when a ~mber of Co~ d~ed a gove~t ~t on ~ok~ a~ ~alth. H~ ~s~ fan Macle~ refused t~ a~ous M.P. ~: ~I r~co~, ~ he is a ~ ~oker concerned ab~t the con~ction ~en ~ncer a~ ~, ~t ~ giv9 up T~:J2 Enclosures Dr. Harris B. Parmele p. Lorillard Cempany lll First Street Jersey City, New Jersey