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Philip Morris

Ochsner Links Death, Smoking Testifies on Views on Cancer, Cigarettes

Date: 19600922/P
Length: 2 pages
1003543363-1003543364
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Type
NEWS, NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Area
JOHN-WARE,JUDY/SHB FILE ROOM
Site
R22
Named Person
Brumfield, H.A.
Christenberry, H.W.
Franklin
Kiendl, T.
Lartigue, F.
Lartigue, V.
Ochsner, A.
Named Organization
Lm, Liggett & Myers
RJR, R.J. Reynolds
Request
Stmn/R1-037
Document File
1003543302/1003543654/600000 TI and TIRC Editorial Comment Informational
Litigation
Stmn/Produced
Author (Organization)
Times Picayune
Master ID
1003543302/3654

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EXTR, EXTRA
Date Loaded
24 May 1999
UCSF Legacy ID
oev02a00

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Page 1: oev02a00
THE TIMES-PICAY[INE a aou h lmad and dt a d ~ g y sregat , v Oehsner testltted, how- Zr. DR. OCHSNER TELLS I ~Nesr Orleans, Louisiana OF'.CANCER CHECK3 betweena1946eand 1948 a rind gLAMES' LARTIGUE' S Ptember 23, 1960 ' g Afien Dn Och'snen w,ie tti, ahtct, tin,....,-t.;., stana, he described .,.. ~,..vau,... himself asmade that he.wrote artlcles 1n, n•„ . a speetalist in surgery and said which he said that no factors ~• D~sner was asked by sa e x,:` ~«. that he has taken particular in- were found which would bear tvmfield H he had examined ~ autopsy report of Lertigue, ~.~ r ~ i ~ terest in lungs.. He testified ou'L a determination of a causal ~{ *~~~ OliH17N~R LIN11S that he has had over 400 of his relationship. ~ the deceased husband of tha ~ t'- r l al ift nt He replied that he had ~.. scientific papers publislted, .. These studies were based on . p ~ about 50 of them dealing with aase histories taken from pa- and that it was his opinion that : DEATH. SMOKING lung cancer. as well as two titnts at Charitv he.enitat anA Lartigue d I e d of epldermoid ~'' ""~ popular books on the subject of Touro Infirmary. said that cancer wntcn was causea ayy y. +~ ;1i, ~ T smoking in relation to health It was later determined that smoktng- est)fiea on Vlews on The expert said that he has g and lung cancer. these hospital records regard- the same a Ittlon of the causal _.d^ ~nnrrr. _Cinar.ttn.-.: ,..a.... ..,..._.... ._,. __ .._.._ twe e,.,.,4;an ,..~.a nn.P `'r-.- :d oonsumed inn the questioning of correct. l b arynx, ut cannot ;;`-+Dr. Alton Ochsner testitled Dr. Ochsner concerning his "It we asked a patient if he ar of the k h l h orotauve a t • y on t at . ji~;Thursday in federal court thaf qualifications, he brought out smoked he would say 'no,' and spe au subject." .c we would find out that he had th t h h ll h " " ' ~ a e as persona ehas y seen ~, conaludtd canciuslvely Dr. Ochsner related the re• t d h b f ' I t e day oppe e that there ia a relationship be about2000 lung cancer patients s ~ ore. We sults of a study made on Qharr *.tween lung canaer and cigarette and has operated on about half learned that we had to have speciftc smoking records Peo- ity hospital ~ patients in 1954 in th ki t b Th h a num er. amo e ot ng. e er half, h. wh'ich the non-smokers were m _ I apparently were ashamed of veatea to nave normat mucaaa was on the witness stand the one so laz that nothing would m e m b za n e whereas in the . entire day in a trial in which a~ave been accomplished by an thetr smoktng," Dr. Ochsner ,,,,,Ud~~ ,t,f;~;,. bperation. - -,- told the court. "seen--" m" 'the-'b' "' -'mwcau•'- Houston widow'is suing two,to- ranchial I bacco fums on the grounds ' Ot the patients he has seen, SAYS 85 PER CENT ' membrane He described these that her husband's death from th'e witness said, about 85 per DUE TO SMOK'ING' as pre cancerous changes Uatg cancer in 1955 was caused cent have had' squamous cell Ph d f ~' Smokers' mucous membranes, t i th s e hosptt ~ n by his cigarette smoking,. cancets caused by cigarette e e ec records were not discovered un- t'e said;,begin to resemble skin. ~,i k tng: The other 12 to 15 per 17te entire morning session smo - - t becomes tou h canaer dcvel- hl 1949 the wTfttess satd, and' u and for a short while after the icent had cancers of another o luncheon recess Dr. Ochsner type ps and extends through the { which he did not attribute tt was then that a specialismok, , , bronchial wall. . was under direct examination to smoking, tng history form was devised ' ' He claimed'that experience " -byH. Alva Brttmfield,an, at- Underr the questionin gng by I for cancer patients. In a pub'1ication in 1950, he has shown that as smoking de l torney for Mrs. Victoria St. BrumEield, Dr. Ochsner testi• t creases there is a reversal of • . fied' that in 1934 he was theestified„ he paintedto the ln»': Pierre I,e, who farmeriy d this process. "We know there third rson to successfull re ct ence of lung cancer as bemg resided in F7anAl10. ~ y Idue to an increase in the use ot is a reversali of the process In ( the larynx because we can see She Is suing the R. ni Rey- move a lung. ~Cigarettes. "In every publica- Asked by the plaintiff"s attor- tion since then I hav i it," Dr. Ochsner said. ttolds Tobacco Company and ` e rnns s ney how man of the 2000' pa- ~ - the Uggett and Myers Tobacco y tently said' that there is evi- l7ompany. Her husband Frank He testified that he believed tients he saw were alive after dence of a causal relationshi , that there are smoking addicts ' ' Lartigue died at the a e of ftve years, the physician re- Dr Oclisner asserted' " and defined an addict as •'one g . plied: . " ' 'tieing able tb grveup a - G5 after smoking, since he wasHe testified'thaC during the' not T7ie number is pttifully low. past year between 30,000 andi habiE"' Dine years oid, according to There i oril ' fi s v t y a e per cen tesumony in the case. 40,000 persons have died The doetor added, Z have . . 'of lungl - Whem court was recessed by survivalirate." Of those he op cancer, Li5 per cent of it~ due seen several patients who had era[ed on; Dr. Ochsner said that to smoking. severe arterial diseases who I Judge Herbert1V. Christenberry '. k ut 15 per cent were sttll The doctor read from a pa-told that tf' theydid not stop -at.5:30 p. m.., Dr. Ochsner wasl ei r. eir : under cross-examination b, i"'ve after five years.. smoktng they would lose th g y H t]dth ' Perh'epub'lished in 1951 pre- e o th t h f e)ury a . e. irslt dicting that.lung cancer caused extremtties, and~ theyy dtd not~ ,. . Theodore FGendl, New. York af- , torney who represents the Re .- ecameinterested.in thecausa] b smokin would t all stop and they did; lose theitex- ve YrelationshipY b'e tw ee n cigar-y g e n u Ytt.emities." ' mlds firm.Because Dr. Ochsnen bernme the mostcommon form~ -' ,Gscheduled to leave the city forr ette smoking and' lung, cancer I and! . he saidd that the prediction HOLDS EVIDENCE n r +=.a trip abroad, Judge Christen- th the late 1930sand wrote thee has come'true. - IS'OVERWHELIHNG' ` ` ~berrysaid that his eross•exami- fitstt article on the subject, in I Healso.read: from a 1953'pa• -4~{tuttion will be resu d t 9 1939. - The surgeon said that at the -' i" h h ''d th t ' er n wh ~c e me a t p sat a t beginning.ot his investigations his a. m. Friday, an tiour earlier STUDIES OF CASE was important thaF lung cancer h e causal effects - than court usually convenes., HISTORIES TOLD be considered in every man optnions as ta t a t 90' wh h'ad k d lott smoking in relation to cancer D s o . urmg Dn Oc.tsner 5direct "At that time I only had, an p smo e one of the lung were. "pretty nebu- "' examination hereviewed his re- ackof cigarettes' a day'for~ 20 apih4onot the relatimnship"' he ~dous "' but that since that time - search on Jun car cer and: said ' ears, g testified and he read from that' he has considered the evlder.ce thatt there are now nvo types of first article In whieh he had. Dr.. Ochsnertesdfied that at ~„avenvhe1min physicianswho do nott agree irst researchers thought that g' referred to the increase in cig•There arehvo types of phy. -wiifih hiss findings as to the re- arette smokingas"a probable' Men had a special susoeptitiil-~ sicians who do not.admit the tr ity too lung, cancer... They are~ latio latinnship b'etween..smoking and' factor"' in the increase of lun shi h' told th u 'Tt• ' ~ g n e e ` lung cancer. He'said these are ' now convinced that this is not P• l ry'.y cancer. the ones who work for tobacco are the emplAyesrot thee tobacco the case and that lung', cancer ~ companies and those who are ad- He read from an article wrtt- showing an increase In wam- companies. and those who are tenlater Is ln the' same yearli1 dictedi' smoking addicts. en as their smoking habits ih, which he said; "It is our con- He asserted that informiitg tds. He alto testified that he be- viction~ that t.y crease, fiee added. lteved'~i thatt the lun ' cancer puJmona carci- He said that unfortunately oplnionss he relied on two "pro- g ' noma Is due lar el to the i ective" s tudtes mad b' a olher g y p y s e n- th isi t ere' no earyy wayo recog-. ® which eaused' Frank J. Larti: crease in smoking;'" scientists which he considered gue's death was caused by his The witness quoted from sev- niae lung cancer and that every- much' better than his "tetrospee- amoking of cigarettes. I one who smokes should have an eral otherarrticlcs written4rom X-rayy made of his lungs every live" studies. The"praspective" ._ On cross examinl Dr. 1939 through.1945 ih ~ which the . i studies were concerned with large . Ochsner denied that fiehas"an th'cee months. , . same opiniom~ was expressed. ~•hee first symploms, the wil- numhcrs off normal people whoseaversionn to smoking." Hesaid: Afterr morestudies; he said, he histories were follow•ed'~for several -_ _:'m frightened. I'm opposed to "concluded conclusively" that ( osrm aof: coughing usually but Suntor• years to see what happened to . smokingforhcalth reasons. " theres is. a casual relationship. tunately, smokerss usually have them., ' In'n respect.toanimal experimen- ~ - . tstion,Dr. Ochsner said,tliat such
Page 2: oev02a00
studies have been used In part as the basis for his opinions and the experiments have supportedhis clinical experience. He produced a microscopic slide of a section of lung tissue taken from Lartigue at autopsy as well as X-rays made of Larti- ,.` gue's lungs taken when he was a patient at Foundation hospital. - ; Dr. Ochsner identified the can- cer of the right lung for the jury and. testified that Lartigue had an epidermoid or squamous cell cancer of the lung. After hearing Brumfield read a history of Lartigue's personal life, including his smoking habits, the doctor was asked his opinion as to what caused the lung cancer. "I believe it was excessive -smoking. I believe the cancer of •` his larnyx was also caused by smoking," he rep?ied. ANSWERS QUESTIONS ' ABOUT 'OTHER FACTS' - On cross examination, Dr. Orhs- • ner, in answer to a question by •,<. Kiendl, said that he had assumed that all of the facts recited by Brumfield as to Lartigue's. per- : sonal history and smoking' habits were true. He said that he seen • ; I,artigue's history. • ."Zt doesn't matter what an of the other facts were, if the two cardinal factors, smoking and can- cer, were there, your answer would be the same, all of the other facts would be surpluses?" Kiendl asked. ., The witness answered, "Yes." . Dr. Ochsner said that no matter what diseases of the respiratory tract Lartigue might have had, be would not change his opinion • as to the cause of the cancer.of the lung. "1liberculosis would not make any difference. Our experience shows no relationship between tuberculosis and cancer of the lung," he'answered Kiendi. Lartigue's history shows that he suffered from tuberculosis and a number of other diseases in his early fife. "Is it fair to state that you have a profound aversion to smok- ing?" Kiendl asked Dr. Ochsner. "No, I am frightened. I have no aversion to smoking. As a phy sician I am frightened as to what It does," the witness answered. Asked about whether or not he has smoked, Dr. Ochsner said that he smoked about a dozen cigar- ettes when he was 21 years old. `My father asked me not to until I was 21 and I had a great respect for him and did not. I tried it, it tasted so vile I didn't again," he asserted. NO 'MYSTERY' ABOUT . CANCER-OCHSNER Kiendl then asked the doctor if he had ever testified that ,he had never smoked in his ;Sfe and _ Dr. Ocnsner replied, "No, I don't believe I did." 1 Later In the cross examina- tion Kiendle produced an ar- ticle and read It in which he quoted Dr. Ochsner as saying, "I have never smoked and if I had I cannot imagine my- self continuing after looking at a• cancer." A great portion of the cross- examination was taken up with the introduction of a r t i c l e s written by Dr. Ochsner as late as 1949 In which the defense at- torney claimed that the doc- tor had stated that the definite eause of lung cancer was not known and much of the re- search was "obscure" _ With the production of every one of these articles Dr. Ochs- ner claimed that the defense attorney was lifting certain por- tions out of context. Dr. Ochsner was a s k e d: "Isn't it true that the mystery of c a n c e r has never been solved?" He answered : "There Isn't any mystery about can- cer." " In connection with Dr. Ochs- ner's testimony concerning the use of the prospective studies which he used to support his opinions, Kiendl produced testi- mony from another t r i a 1 In which the conductor of one of •these studies testified and at- tempted to show that the tes- timony proved that the studies did not show a relationship be- 'tween lung cancer and smok- 1ng. Dr. O c h s n e r denied any knowledge of the testimony and when shown an article writ- ten by the same researcher and asked to point out any direct statement concerning such a re- lationship, the witness s a i d that he could not, but called attention to a graph showing what he said was a comparison of the mortality rate of smok- ers and nonsmokers. Dr. Ochsner said that' there is no connection between nico- tine and lung cancer. He said that it does, however, produce severe conditions in the lungs "almost as devastating." He defined excessive smoking as one package of cigarettes a day or more and added, "You are never safe until you stop."

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