Tobacco Documents Online

TO: Billi Ruder June 19, 1974 FROM: Saul Warshaw RE: Report On Luncheon Meeting With Dr. Ernst Wynder of Americani Health Foundation . I. Attendees at Luncheon Dr. Wynder Mrs. Louise Mahoney (No relation to David) Mrs. Eva Weir Henry McIntyre Ri chard Klarberg You know who Dr. Wynder is. Mrs. Mahoney is a~riend of Henry.McIntyre's. She is not in business but appeared to have at one time been in the public relations field working for Dr. Howard~ Rusk. I gathered that her brother was someone Henry McIntyre thought she could interest in the Foundation. Mrs. Weir, who said very little, appeared to be a committed young socialite. Mr. K1'arberg is the house counsel for the Foundation. You know who Mr. McIntyre is. II. Purpose of Luncheon The specific purpose of the luncheon, as it finally came out toward the end ofthe session, was that Dr, Wynder is looking to reconstitute, upgrade and strengthen his board of directors because the current members -- which~ include Dave Mahoney and Bill Levitt -- really have been serving in the main part becaus e they are friends of his. What he wants now are movers and shakers who don't necessarily have to be big money people themselves, but who are well connected in the power structure. I believe Henry McIntyre invited you~ to the luncheon because he saw you playing that sort of role. l

III. Presentation at Pyieeting Dr. Wynder made a presentation at our luncheon session wherein he described the activities of the American 1-Tealth Foundation with special emphasis on the whole idea of what he likes to call: "'managerial preventive medicine. " As you probably know, the Foundationts whole outlook is that preventive medicine, started quite literally at the chilid'. age level via proper nut'rition and other factors, is how to avoid in later life certain forms of cancer, heart attacks, etc. Dr. Wynder describeda number of activities the Foundation is.undertaking in the preventive medicine drive including: 1. Publication of the Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2. Development of Dr. Aaah, a cartoon character for educational uses. 3. The carrying out of what he called'political activities having to do with work on behal f of the preventive medicine concept in discussions on health or national health, insurance, with the whole subject of health becoming a public is sue, etc. He also emphasized the fact that he has a difficult time getting across the theory and practice of preventive medicine among: 1. People in general, be--ause they don't want to think about the fact of dying. 2. Hospitals, because preventive medicine is not a money maker. 3. Doctors, who are far too busy curing sick people to really be concerned about preventing them from getting sick. 4. The insurance industry because, says Dr. Wynder, that industry's interests are closely tied to the tobacco and meat and dairy interests. You will recognize that I did not feel it was proper at this particular meeting to take up the battle with~ Dr. Wynder on that last point. I

IV.. Reference to Tobacco and Health Throughout his presentation to us, Dr. Wynder made reference to the tobacco-cancer question, but really said, nothing new. He merely made all of the same kinds of statements you might expect relating to cigarettes as a cause of lung cancer and heart disease. It was interesting to me to see, however, that his attitude now seems to be very much colored by his whole concept that preventive medicine is really the key to future health. Here's what I rnean. Although, he did make mention of the fact that the Foundation has an anti-smoking, clinic, he also seemed to allow for what he characterized ars the realistic fact that the people are going to smoke so the next best thing to do is try to make cigarettes as "safe" as possible. (This was reflected in the Foundation's booklet, a copy of which is attached). It seemed to me that the big thrust now of Dr. Wynder's thinking is that the whole area of preventive medicine must include more and more attention to the role that nutrition in food habits plays. He described! in some detal1 the kindi of research the Foundation is now involved in to determine why certain diets might bring, on cancer of the colon, for example. He also said very specifically that their findings indicate that skimmed milk, rather than whole milk, ought to be drunk even by children. And at one point he noted'. that he has started to approach the food industry with his findings, but that he has not gotten very far in that direction -- and he shrugged and said something like "Well, it took 25 years with the tobacco industry . . . " VI. My Impressions First of all, it is obvious that Dr. Wynder recognizes the need for a strong board because he is really having a difficult time raising, even a couple of million dollars to complete the new Naylor Dana Institute facility up near Grasslands Hospital in Westchester. There is no clout on his board and he knows this. Secondly, Dr. Wynder seems to recognize that an educational campaign is one of the elements needed in trying to get across to people the whole pre- ventive medicine concept. That''s the reason, for example, for the creati~on of the Dr. Aaah character.

Thirdl, and I may be dead wrong about this one -- II think that Dr. Wynder is an extremely practical man at this point in his life. For example, it seems to me that if there were some way that he and! the cigarette industry, or he and the food industry could work tooether and seek out common in- terests that go toward satisf;ring the desires of all sides, then I believe this would be an amenable approach for him and that he would not be totally stubborn on that point. As I say, I might be complietely wrong about this, but it seemed to me that Dr. Wyndler is very much a pragmatist. ` Working on the belief that we have always had around here -- that open lines of communication with the "other side'"' are a basic tenet in puhiic relations, I wonder whether you might not want to consider getting involved with Dr. Wynder, if not on his board, then in an advisory capacity. All other things aside, he is a dynamic fellow. It also seems to me that your getting involvedl would be a good way to keep our pipelines open for the benefit of such clients of ours as Philip Morris. Henry McIntyre is calling you on Thursday since I tolid' him I would report back to you. FYI, you also should know that the Foundation's house counsel, Mr. Klarberg, also is in charge of their public relations. He asked if he could call me to get some counseling from time to time and I told him I would certainly be •willing to cooperate. I agreed,both in keeping with the tenet just described above, and because I do agree with the general theory that preventive medicine is a good concept even though I can argue wit'h, certain of the specific conclusions as they relate to tobacco and the like. Please let me know if you want anything further on this.