Tobacco Documents Online

By ARTHUR JOHNSEY Narald Staff Wribr The conflict uf expert medi- cal testimony over causes of lung cancer began Tuesday in 4 ', t'R, Miami federal court::as. -t-h e .:,r. American - Tobacco Company; defendant In a damage suit, offered its first witnesses. w~`:'.A University of Florida phar- macologist, Dr. Thomas Marenj , told the jury that retention of arsenic in the body, when in- troduced in the blood stream ;in far larger doses than comes "in through the smoke-stream of a cigaret's is "trivial " And a practicing Miami phy- sician took the stand to af- 8rm that nobody knows the causes of cancer. As: witnesses called by the ' defendant tobacco company, their testimony tended to con- }`tradict a series -of witnesses offered by the estate of the late Edwin M. Green, Coconut !.Grove swimming pool contrac- tor. : {r-? , Careen's estate is attempting ::to prove heavy smoking of cig- arets over more than 25 years caused his lung cancer. ~-°Before' ~otnpleting 'Its case Monday, the plaintiff had of- fered fered medical testimony that ': even the minute traces of ar- ': senic found In the smoke= `. atream could accumulate In a `' period of 30 years or more to affect the lungs. 'The plaintiff contended ar- senic could be a factor, acting with other substances in ciga- ret tars, to cause cancer. 1 Dr. Maren.said, however, that }~} }i arsenic accumulates over the,of years in the body in very small places and In very small lamouqts so that its effect is Inegligible. , ._ "Virtuafly all arsenic is ex- I creted by the kidneys a n d there Is little or no evidence of cumulation," he said. ~ There was "not the slightest evidence." he added, that Green had arsenic poisoning before his Ideath. The Green's attorney pro- tested the witness' answer, pointing out that there was no contention that poisoning from arsenic had occurred. Asked on crcss-examination whether arsenic hasn't been "in- criminated" as a factor in icausing cancer„ Dr. Maren re- ,torte¢: "It's been implied - chief- ly by one man who had no proof." Dr. Jay Flipse, a practicing 1liiami' physir.ian, told the jury causes of Iung cancer aren't known by any one. I He cast doubt on the place caused Edwin Green's death, testifying , at without an au- topsy it was not possible to de- termine whether a growth in the apex of his lPft lung spread to the right, side of the neck as hari been indicated inn earlier testimony. Dr. Flipse testified it' ~+as "extremely un. usual" it the cancer spread as described. ., °r,a 'r ;:: :f Defense testimony was ex- pected to continue through Thursday. TfE MIAMI HERAI~ Miami, Florida July 27, 1960 TFiE MIAMI HER.ALD Miami,Flvrida 20-A July 28, 1960 By ARTHUR JOHN SEY + , . Narald Staff Writtr A federal court jury heard -further m e d i c a 1 testimony Wednesday casting doubt' on theories that heavy cigaret smoking is a cause of lung can- cer: y' A Texas scientist testified he r' and his associates have tried' for several years to produce cancer by use of tobacco tars In the lung of a duck but no cancer has been produced. a Dr. R. H. Rigdon, staff inem- ?i ~ ber of the University of Texas M1, at Galveston, took the stand ,. .:- as a witness for the American Tobacco Co. .- , , . ~ .. The company is defending it- self in a damage suit based on claims that'lung cancer caused by heavy smoking of Lucky Strike cigarets brought on the death of Edwiir M..Green. On cross-examination Dr. Rigdon said his research in part had been financed by funds made available to the Univer- sity of Texas by the American Tobacco Institute. , Another witness cast doubt on the statements of witnesses for the Edwin M. Green estate, plaintiffs in the damage suit, that the •cancer that caused his death originated in the lung. Dr. Duane Carr, of the Uni- versity of Tennessee Medical School, Memphis, said he'd never seen a cancer in the left upper lobR spread to the spot on the right side, below the neck, where Green's fatal, can- ~ cerlodged. ,