Tobacco Products Liability Project
Topic: Causation Issue
Abstract
Compiles an outline of excerpts from annual reports, depositions (from Green, 1959 and from Zagurski, 1967), congressional hearings, press releases, and statements regarding the relationship between cigarettes and lung cancer. Focuses on defending the idea that there is no scientific evidence to prove that smoking causes lung cancer. Points out problems with research that claims to prove a correlation and details research that finds contradictions. Contends that the health concerns regarding smoking are greatly exaggerated.
Fields
- Indexer Comment
- Attachments mentioned in this document are not included.
- Named Organization
- AT
- United States Public Health Service
- U.S. Surgeon General
- American Cancer Society
- American Heart Association
- National Cancer Institute
- Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research
- New York World-Telegram and Sun
- Washington Evening Star
- Medical Research Council
- Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC)
- Central Council for Health Education of the Tavistock House
- The American Tobacco Company
- Institute of Statistics, University of North Carolina
- Nature
- University of Texas
- Industrial Medicine and Surgery
- New York University
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- AMA Education and Research Foundation
- Medical College of Virginia
- Royal College of Surgeons
- Johns Hopkins University
- National Institutes of Health
- The Lancet
- Southern Medical Association
- U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare
- University of North Carolina
- Nebraska State Medical Journal
- Fortune Magazine
- Life Magazine
- Mayo Clinic
- British Empire Cancer Campaign
- Yale University School of Medicine
- New Zealand National Health Institute
- Environmental Cancer Section, National Cancer Institute
- Cambridge University
- British Medical Journal
- Journal of the American Medical Association
- Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health
- The Council for Tobacco Research U.S.A. (CTR-USA)
- Yale Medical School
- Leeds University
- Tobacco Tax Branch, Internal Revenue Service
- Time
- Legal Medical Institute
- Mercy Hospital
- National Interagency Council on Smoking and Health
- New York Times
- Philadelphia Inquirer
- Cleveland Plain Dealer
- Baltimore Sun
- N.Y. Herald Tribune
- Commission of Interstate & Foreign Commerce
- Senate
- Congress
- Mosby Co.
- New York State Department of Health
- Newsweek
- Ford Foundation
- CBS
- Senate Committee on Commerce
- Congressional Record
- H.E.W.
- London Times
- Medical World News
- New Scientist
- Journal of the Society of Occupatinal Medicine
- World Health Organization
- FTC
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- Named Person
- Heimann, Robert K.
- Green
- Burney, Leroy
- Hammond, E. Cuyler
- Wynder, Ernest
- Hanmer, Hiram R.
- Crowe, John Alexander
- Harlow, Edward S.
- Haag, Harvey B.
- Horn, Daniel
- Doll
- Hill
- Dorn, Harold F.
- Hastings
- Dyer
- Bock
- Graham
- Roffo
- Case, R.A.M.
- Baum, William S.
- Little, Clarence C.
- Lumbard
- Rigdon, R.H.
- Cohen, Jacob
- Finkner
- Horvitz
- Foradori
- Fleischer
- Monroe
- Hahn, Paul M.
- Walker, Robert B.
- King James I
- Rush, Benjamin
- Tidswell, Herbert H.
- Pearl, Raymond
- Berkson
- Hahn, Paul M.
- Eastcott
- Dean
- Case
- Cornfield
- Hetsko
- Magnuson
- Neuberger
- Haenszel
- Shimkin
- Levitt
- Little, C.C.
- Laric
- Seltzer, Carl C.
- Jones
- Fisher, Ronald
- Stamp, Josiah
- Harlan, William R.
- Bowden, Alfred F.
- Ochsner, Alton
- Heller, John
- Hockett, Robert C.
- Gray, Bowman
- Glenn
- Allen, George V.
- Zagurski
- Hager, Virgil
- Cullman, Joseph P., III
- Pearson
- Sommers, Sheldon C.
- Anderson, W.A.D.
- Millard, Max
- Moss
- Kotin, Paul
- Stewart, William
- Moore, George E.
- Judge, Curtis H.
- Kornegay, Horace R.
- Burch
- Hart
- Horrigan, Edward A., Jr.
- Hatch
- Sommers
- Adler
- Shields
- Warren
- Rosenblatt
- Dannemeyer
- Witt
- Mine, A.
- Type
- draft
- outline
- compilation
- press release
- deposition
- statement
- Date Loaded
- 08 Jan 2003
Page count mismatch (files 147, split 153)
Document Images
2S~005050
Subject to Claims of Privilege and Confidentiality:
Produced Pursuant to Court Orders In State ofMinnesota~ et al. v. Philip Morris, et al.
[Draft of 3/14/85!
TOP.IC: CAUSATION ISSUE
Deposition of Robert K. Helmann in Green v. A__T (11/2/59)
at 73-77, 81, 98-100, 102-103, 106,
Have you ever heard that the surgeon general, Leroy
Burney, of the United States Public Health Service, has
commented on the question as to evidence or lack of evid-
ence with ~espect to the relationship between smoklng
and lung cancer?
A Yes. I have heard of such comments.
Q What has been your position with respect to
his comments?
& Well, the Surgeon General has made comments
at various times.
And he has pointed out that there are many fac-
tors suspected of being implicated in lung cancer. One
of them that he went out of his way to comment about
is air. pollution, as being a suspected factor.
The general impression T get, trusting to memory,
is that he has made a number of statements, a number
of possible factors.
Q Has it ever been your understanding that his posi-
tion is that the weight of the evidence was increasingly
pointing In one direction, and that is that excessive
smoking is one of the causative -- and I would underline
the word "causative" -- factors in lung cancer?
A I really don't remember whether he stated it as
possibility or in some other fashion.
Q I see. Has there ever been brought to your atten-
tlon the fact that there was a study group on smoking
and health composed of scientists of the American Cancer
2~2005051.
Subject to Claims of Privilege and Confidentiality:
Produced Pursuant to Court Orders in State ofMinnesota~ et aL v. Philip Morri% et al.
Society, the American Heart Association, the National
Cancer Institute and the National Heart Institute,
which their concluslon was --
Q -- in which their conclusion was:
"The sum total of solentlfic evl~ence established
beyond a reasonable doubt that cigarette smoking is a
causative factor in the incidence of human epider~oid
carcinoma of the lung"?
Has that ever been brought to you~ attention?
A Yes. It has been brought to my attention.
Q And what was your position with ~espect-~o that
contention?
A My personal position?
Q Yes, with respect to that contention.
A I believe their statement is based on fallacious
evidence.
0 With respect to the British government, has It
ever been brought to your attention that they have dis-
tr~buted posters based upon a report o~ their Medical
Research Council, * * .* -- stating that the relation-
ship between cigarettes and lung cancer is "one of
direct cause and effect"?
A I have read reports of various kin~s of action
f~o~ Britain, some ~Isputlng the theory that you speak
of and some espouslng it.
O I am speaking about it being the Brltlsh-govern-
ment's view, their Public Health Service. Have you ever
heard o~ their position with ~espect to it?
A I can't be certain whether what I read -- whether
what ~ read was from the British government or from some
private a~en=y.
2S200S052
Subject to Claims of Privilege and Confidentiality:
Produced Pursuant to Court Orders in State ofMinnesota~ et aL v. Philip Morris~ et al.
~) Let me put it another way: Are you aware that
the British government has taken a position, that is,
their Public Health Service has actually taken a position
with respect to this claim of cigarette s~oking an~ lung
cancer, one way or the other?
A Well, my answer would be the same as before:
that I don't know whether it's the government or some
other agency that has taken the position.
Q An~ you don't know which way the British govern-
merit has gone, either for it or against it?
A No; I don't.
Q Has the work of Dr. Hammond in the work of Hammond
and Horn on statistics for the American Cancer Society
and their study on some 187,000 men and their conclusions
with respect to smokln9 and canoer ever been brought to
your attention? -~
A Yes.
Q A~d what is your view of that?
A~ I have studied that very carefully, and it is
my personal opinion that that is fallaclous, that that
study is fallacious ana its conclusion is fallacious.
Q The work of Dr. Wynder at the Sloan-Kettering
Institute For Cancer Research, with respect to experl
mental animals and the production of cancers in them
through the use of tobacco tar, have you ever heard
of that?
A I have heard of Dr. Wynder, and I have read
reports of some of his work.
And what is your opinion of his reports, Mr.
Helmann?
A His reports have not been confirmed by others
doing simllar work, but in any event it's my opinion
t_~hat what he has done and published along the lines
you described is not relevant to the theory that we
3
282005053
Sub|ect to Claims of Privilege and Confidentiality:
Produced Pursuant to Court Orders in State ofMinnesota~ et aL v. Philip Morris, et aL
O Has it come to your attention that nicotin~ has
been credited with or claimed to have been credited with
having an effect on the cardiovascular system or the
heart or the blood pressure?
A I have read arguments pro and con o .
O With respect to the New York World-Telegram and
Sun's quotation from an editorial wherein it is quoted:
"A relationshlp obvlously has been drawn
between cigarette smoking and the incidence of
lung cancer, but we have yet to hear anyone
offer evidence that moderate cigarette smoking per
se is a cause of lung cancer0"
Do you have any quarrel with that?
A The anwser is, do I quarrel with this?
Q Yes.
A The answer turns on how you can construe this
word "relationship," which has been much abused, that is,
if you said that somebody had compiled some statistics
in such a manner that a relationship had been drawn,
well, then, you could say that a relationshlp had obvi-
ously been drawn.
On the other hand, the interpretation of that
supe'rflclal-"~'elatlcnshlp is completely -- is a completely
different question.
So there wouldn't be a tendency to quarrel
with one word in an editorial which makes a point not
related to the point you described.
Q Sir, let ~e see if this is a fair unders~andlng
of your position -- and I am now quoting again from Volume
I, No. i, from the Washington Evening Star article in
t~hat:
2S200~0,~4
Sub|ect to Cla~m~ of Privilege and Confidentiality:
Produced Pursuant to Court Orders in State ofMinnesota~ et aL v. Philip Morris, et al.
"Nevertheless, regardless o~ all such reservations,
the general picture looks disturbing enough if not
alarming enough to warrant the most comDlete ty.De
of contlnuln~ study. This is a ch&11enge not only
to the tobacco industry but ~o every government
agency charged with the safeguarding of the nation's
health."
First Of all, do you feel that it is a fair
statement that there is a challenge to the tobacco
industry and also to every government agency w~th
respect to, shall we say, the allegations or claims
of the zelatlonship between cancer and smoking or
excessive smok Ing?
A I would say there is a defln~te challenge to
improve the quality of the research and the methods being
b~ought to bear on this subject. _=
0 Has it been brought to your attention that the
claim is that it is the tobacco tar which is the carclno-
genlo substance?
A.. Well, the word "tar" is a misnomer. ~f you are
talking about smoke solids, that is I think what is generaly
understood by "tar," although, as I understand it, no
precise definition of tar has b~en agreed upon.
Of course, tar as such is not specific to clga
retie smoke or any other kind of smoke. But ~ have read
a great deal about it. Yes. I have read a great deal
about so-called tar.
Q All right. Zn other words, ~t has been brought
to your attention that the so-called tobacco tar is the
incrlm~natlnq substance, the allege~ ~ncrlminatlng sub-
stance or clalmed to be the incriminating substance?
A
People have ma~e -~
•
.-- Q Has it ~een brought to your arrant(on that there
is some claim that the carn[nogenlc substance is in the
tobacco tar?
Subject to Claims of Privilege and Confidentiality:
Produced Pursuant to Court Orders in State of Minnesot,% et aL v. Philip Morris, et al.
A I have noted such claims.
Q Has any attempt been made by you -- and by "you"
I am speaking of you as an executive in the Ameclcan
Tobacco Company -- to reduce the amount of tobacco tar?
* * * We are talking about Lucky Strikes.
A Well, the mere fact of certain alleged character-
iStlcs of so-called tar is one thing. Now, our position
Is that the smoke solids and cigarette smoke are the
elements that contribute to the pleasure and enjoyment
of smoking. To my knowledge, no one has established
what are the carclno~ens that cause lung cancer, nor,
to my knowledge, has anybody established that such things
are present in cigarette smoke.
Q Have you had any conferences with ME. Hanmer
with respect to any research he may hay8 done o~any
feelings he may have on this particular question o~ smok-
Ing and lung cancer or smokln~ and cardiovascular disease?
A Yes.
~ How often have you ha~ discussions with him?
A Well, my contacts with Mr. Hanme~ are not on a
regular basis. He~s in Richmond and I'm in New York.
O I mean, does he come up perlodIca11¥ to discuss,
shall we say --
A .No. Not for that purpose.
Q Have you ever had any meeting where it has been
confined to, shall we say, the discussion of clalms of
smoking and lung cancer and smoking and cardiovascular
disease?
A Well, ~ don~t believe we ever confined ourselves
to that one subject. It has ~een discussed alon~with a
number of other business matters that we have occasionally
discussed from time to time.
*
ZSZ005056
Subject to Clslms of Privilege and Confidentiality:
Produced Pursuant to Court Orders iu State ofMinnesota~ et aL v. Philip Morris, et aL
Deposition of John Alexan~ec Crowe in Green v. A__T (ii/2/59)
at 4, 9-12, 15, 19-20, 31:
Q Hr. Crowe, in the past ten years or so, le~
us say, have you heard about the claims that there
has been some relationship, that is, a claimed relatlon-
ship between smoking and cancer?
A Yes.
0 Did you know, sir, of a study group compose~ of
representatives, that is, scientists from the American
-Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the
National Heart Institute, an~ the National Cancer Insti-
tute, who studied all of the foundations and the litera-
ture and observations with respect to this question of
smoking and cancer, an~] then came out with a statement
to the effect that -- -~
O (Continuing} The quotation is :
"The sum total of scientific evidence estab-
lishes beyond a reasonable doubt that cigarette
smoking is a causative factor in the rapidly increas-
ing incidence in human epidermoid carcinoma of the
lung."
-Did that statement ever come to your attention?
A This is the first time, ever.
Q ~Sir, did it ever come to your attention that the
British Goverr~ent had, after a re.port was issued by
the Medical Research Council of the British Government,
sta~ed publicly ~hat the relationship between cigarettes
and lung cancer is one of direct cause and effect?
A No~ I haven't.
-- Q Let me ask you, sir, whether the statement oE
the Surgeon General, Dr. Burney, as follows, ever came
to your attention;
7
ZS2005057
Subject to Claims of Privilege and Confidentiality:
Produced Pursuant to Court Orders In State ofMinnesota~ et aL v. Philip Morris, et aL
"The Publlc Health Service feels the weight of
the evidence is Increasingly pointing in one dlrec-
t~on: that excessive s~okln9 is one of the causa-
tive factors in lung cancer."
has not been bcou~ht to ~ attention.
Q Do you know if they [TIPS] are attempting to
inquire as to the validity or non-val~dity of a claimed
connection between smoking and cancer?
A Z .imagine they are, certainly.
Q ~n that respect, are they doing any research
themselves?
A I don't know.
O Have you personally ever seen any of the publi-
cat~on~ with respect to this question of smoking and
cancer that were put out by the A~erican Cancer Society?
The papers themselves?
Yes. The pa..Ders themselves.
A No~ Z haven'to
Q Sir, was the followi~ ever called to your atten-
tlo~: A statement by the medical officer of health of
the Central Council for Health Education of the Tavlstock
House in Tavlstock Square, in London, England:
"Smoking and Health.
"It is my dut7 to warn all cigarette smokers
that there ~ now conclusive evidence that they
are runni~9 a greater risk of co~tracting oance~
than non-smokers. The risk mounts with the number
of cigarettes smoked. Givln~ up smoking reduces
the risk."
28 005058
Subject to Claims of Privilege ud Coufideutiality:
Produced Pursuant to Court Orders in State ofMinuesot~ et sL v. Philip Morris, et al.
Underneath that £s: "The Central Council for Health
Education, Tavlstock House, Tavistock Square, London."
Has that statement eve~ come to your attentlon?
A No.
Q (Continuing) Has there ever been brought to
your attention the accusation that nicotine has an adverse
effect with respect to the heart or the cardiovascular
system?
A Not brought to my attention.
O Do you have any personal feeling that it has
any effect on the heart or cardiovascular system?
A I don't think so.
0 Has there ever been brought to your att~ntlo~
any accusation ~ha~ nicotine has an adverse effect or
at least has some contributory effect with respect to
cancer of the lug?
~, No o
Q Do you have any opinion that it has or has not?
A I don't th~n~ so.
Q Has there ever been brought to your attention
the fact that nlcoti~e causes addiction £n a person,
that is to say, that after being exposed to the effects
of n£cotine, then they find that they are unable to ~Ive
it up?
A Z haven't had that expe~ience.
Deposition of Edward S. Harlow in Gree...__~n v. AT (10/31/59)
at-132, 134-36, 137-38: -=
Q Has any specific Investigation been made as a
result of the claims that there is a relationship
between smoking an~ cancer?
A Not specific, no,
Subject to Clalm~ of Privilege and Confidentiality:
Produced Pursuant to Court Orders in State ofMinnesota~ et aL v. Philip Morris, et al.
