Charles, James L., Ph.D.
(PM, R&D VP, Pharmacologist, Industry Expert) Vice President of Research and a scientist for Philip Morris, Inc. Vice President of Research for Philip Morris, Inc. in 1986 and then again from 1992 to 1993.Biographical Information:
James L. Charles was born around 1937. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia. After graduation, he accepted a job as a paint chemist for the Department of Agriculture of the State of Virginia in June of 1961. His main responsibility in this position was analyzing the chemical composition of commercial paints to ensure that they were as labeled.
He joined Philip Morris in 1962 and worked for the company for two years as an assistant chemist, conducting chemical analyses on tobacco, paper, filters and smoke, fulfilling requests from the research and development department. In 1964, he resigned his full-time position there to study medicine at the Medical College of Virginia. He continued to work part-time at Philip Morris for the next three years, and in 1967 he quit medical school and returned to his previous position. Charles received a promotion in 1972 and left the analytical research division to become a staff research scientist, reporting to director of research Thomas Osdene. He began to have an increasing amount of autonomy and became heavily involved in research on the role of nicotine in the smoking experience.
In 1978, Charles explained that this research was essential because nicotine “is a powerful pharmacological agent with multiple sites of action and may be the most important component of cigarette smoke. Nicotine and an understanding of its properties are important to the continued well being of our cigarette business since this alkaloid has been cited often as ‘the reason for smoking’ and theories have been advanced for ‘nicotine titration’ by the smoker. Nicotine is known to have effects on the central and peripheral nervous system as well as influencing memory, learning, pain perception, response to stress and level of arousal.”
In 1980, Charles reiterated these views, stressing that “the benefits to be derived from the program will not be realized immediately. Indeed the benefits will necessarily be of a long-term nature and may have direct bearing on our market position in a 10-15 year time frame.” Toward these ends, Charles supervised the nicotine and behavioral research done by Victor DeNoble in conjunction with Leo Abood of the University of Rochester. He also recommended DeNoble for promotion, commending him for “an outstanding series of investigations which have proven to be very useful to the company in the controversial area of nicotine pharmacology.”
In 1979, while still working full-time at Philip Morris, Charles re-enrolled as a graduate student at the Medical College of Virginia. He received a doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology in 1982, with his dissertation involving research on the kinetic exchange that takes place in mouse bone marrow cells as a result of alkylating agents. Memos written during these years suggest that Charles kept close tabs on scientists who seemed hostile to the industry. In a 1979 memo to Osdene, he described a lecture by Dr. Richard Wilson that he had attended. Charles stated that he was “apalled [sic]” by many of the statements made by Wilson, adding, “His presentation was so strongly anti-smoking that, in my opinion, this man represents a substantial threat to the cigarette industry.”
In commenting on other research, Charles likewise shows more concern with the financial impact on the tobacco industry than the underlying scientific and public health issues. Particularly illuminating was a handwritten memo that he wrote to Osdene on March 30, 1980, in response to a study by James R. White, Ph.D. and Herman Frocke, M.D., on the health effects of secondhand smoke. Charles characterizes the study as “an excellent piece of work that could be very damaging to our business.” He then spends the rest of the memo suggesting ways in which the findings could be attacked or discredited, and scientists who might be willing to participate in such an effort.
In October of 1981 James Charles received another promotion and became manager of the biochemical research division. In this role, he undertook a variety of new research assignments, including ignition propensity testing.
He continued, however, to share his thoughts with Osdene on how new scientific studies affected the profitability of Philip Morris. In response to a 1982 press conference by the Surgeon General, Charles wrote as follows: “This company is in trouble. The cigarette industry is in trouble. ... The Surgeon General’s press conference was disturbing. For the first time associations between cancers other than the lung and cigarette smoking are being made in an emphatic manner. Associating cigarette smoking with 30% of all cancer deaths should make someone sit up and take notice... ....Let’s face the facts: 1. Cigarette smoke is biologically active. A. Nicotine is a potent pharmacological agent. Every toxicologist, physiologist, medical doctor and most chemists know that. It is not a secret. B. Cigarette smoke condensate applied to the backs of mice causes tumors. C. Hydrogen cyanide is a potent inhibitor of cytochrome oxidase – a crucial enzyme in the energy metabolism of all cells. D. Oxides of nitrogen are important in nitrosamine formation. Nitrosamines as a class are potent carcinogens. E. Tobacco-specific nonvolatile nitrosamines are present in significant amounts in cigarette smoke. F. Acrolein is a potent eye irritant and is very toxic to cells. Acrolein is in cigarette smoke. G. Polonium-210 is present in cigarette smoke. H. We know very little about the biological activity of sidestream smoke. I. We do not know enough about the biological activity of additives which have been in use for a number of years.”
Also of note in this memo is Charles’s instruction to Osdene that, “you may shred this document.” It is hard not to wonder how many memos between Charles and Osdene met precisely that fate.
In a 1983 memo, Charles offered his thoughts on a report entitled “Why People Smoke.” He noted “one caution which should be considered before attacking the document.” He then went on to explain that there was a sound basis for an attack, but that “we cannot defend tolerance. Tolerance to nicotine is a well established fact. Recent experiments in Vic’s [Victor DeNoble’s] project have shown that there is a behavioral component to tolerance (a learned phenomenon), but this work has not been published. So, we should be careful to not get trapped by ‘tolerance’ if we decide to attack the document.”
The Philip Morris Documents website (http://www.pmdocs.com) contains well over 1,000 memos written by Charles, including over 300 to Osdene. Cumulatively, they offer many revelations about the nature of the research being done by Philip Morris and the company’s efforts to monitor the research being done by scientists perceived as hostile to the industry.
In 1984, Charles was promoted to director of research, overseeing the research done by the biochemical research division and two other divisions. In 1990 he became vice president of research, assuming additional supervisory responsibilities. He retired on October 1, 1992, but continued to work as a Philip Morris consultant and has testified for the company in the Kearney, Shires and Minnesota cases.
Sources:
Allan M. Brandt, The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America (New York: Basic Books, 2007).
James L. Charles, Handwritten Draft Memo, “Comments on ‘Future Strategies for the Changing Cigarette,’ National Conference on Smoking & Health,” February 23, 1982.
1003171563-1003171567. http://tobaccodocuments.org/mn_ex/EXHIB_bn1003171563-1567MN.html.
James L. Charles, Handwritten Draft Memo, “Small-airways Dysfunction in Nonsmokers Chronically Exposed to Tobacco Smoke, James R. White, Ph.D. and Herman Frocke, M.D.,” March 30, 1980, http://tobaccodocuments.org/landman/1002641904-1907.html?pattern=james+charles#images.
James L. Charles, Memo, “Comments on Dr. Richard Wilson, Professor of Physics, Harvard Univ.,” September 7, 1979, http://www.pmdocs.com/PDF/2024968988_8989_0.PDF.
James L. Charles, Memo, “Promotion of Dr. Victor J. DeNoble to Associate Senior Scientist,” http://www.pmdocs.com/PDF/2043724091_4092_0.PDF.
James L. Charles, Memo, “Why People Smoke,” March 16, 1983, http://www.pmdocs.com/PDF/1003481128_0.PDF.
James L. Charles, Report, “Nicotine Receptor Program - University of Rochester,” March 18, 1980. 1003724284-1003724285. http://tobaccodocuments.org/mn_ex/EXHIB_bn1003724284-4285.html.
Richard Kluger, Ashes to Ashes: America’s Hundred-Year Cigarette War and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris (New York: Vintage Books, 1996).