Document 6wgkVGRbJm1NNLejGaNOKVE6g

LABORATORY OF AP P LIED P HYSIOLOGY UNI VERSI TY OF CI NCI NNATI COLLEGE OF MEDICINE GENERAL HOSPITAL October 26, 1932 Dr. Robert A. Kehoe c/o I,ir. A. D. mittnacht Ethyl Gasoline Corporation Chrysler Building Rev; Dork City Dev; York Dear Doctor- Kehoe: I am enclosing herewith a letter and revert on received this morning* From the data in the report, Mr. P P B H P P T appears to have died three days after the sudden onset of the acute illness characterized by weakness, nausea, vomiting, dysentery and cyanosis. Certain phases suggest intoxication with a nitro compound but in the absence of any statement as to Mr. age or detailed hospital record, we can not exclude even a cardiac decompensation. I am sorry that we have no more information to forward you at this tine. It might be a good plan to have Mr. llittnacht, or rather have Durham get copies of the hospital record as well as the pathologistrs report, and investigate the types of gasoline which he was dispensing. Apparently no attempt was made to examine the other filling station attendants who encountered similar exposure to that of Mr. It is something which may be of some value to us to consme^aoing. Very truly yours, WFM: IS . ' i KE1 00219?3 N22821 1 ;Z<i, `j l-j K. Info rm atio n was re ce ive d a t De nve r, Co l o ., from *UVa Zadra, Eth y l Gaso li n e Co r p o r a t io n Fie ld Re p re s e n ta tive , o f the de ath o f a Mr. Propr. o f the Fat Boy F i l l i n g St a t i o n , Colorado Sp rin gs , Co lo . The de ath w'S's rumored to have been due to exposure to Eth yl Ga s o lin e . L. A. ' Dr./ Conw ay, the In te rn e s t in charge o f the case and Dr. Ryde r, the Pa t h o l o g i s t , were v i s i t e d and the fo llo w in g in fo rm atio n o btain e d . . On Thursday, Se p t. 2 9 th, M r . ^ H k spe nt the e n tire morning che cking gas o lin e pumps. There were th re e n o ^ i e a a c o n t a i n i n g and one le ad co n tain in g ga s o lin e pumps. More gas o lin e was tho ught to have been withdrawn from the Eth y l pump than from the o th e rs . The ga s o lin e withdrawn from the Eth y l pump was e s tim ate d to have been 50 g a llo n s . The proce e dure consta te d o f a he lpe r s tanding a t the pumps w atching the gagge w hile Mr .^ ^ ^ ^ J^ ^ p t o o d o ve r a fiv e g a llo n bucke t che cking volumns. The ga s o lin e was the n poured back in to the tan k. This proce e dure was e s tim ate d as having been done about te n t i mes w ith the Eth y l pump. This was done in th e open on a ho t d a y . M r .^ ^ m ^ ^ b e c a m e i l l th a t afte rn o o n and the a s s is t a n t proceede d w ith the work on two or thre e o th e r pumps, one o f which was anothe r Eth y l pump. Thursday e ve ning Mr. d e fi n e t ly i l l w ith se ve r nausea and vo m iting and se ve re dio rhe a. This co ntinue d t hroughout the n ig h t and a ls o Friday and Firday n ig h t. Saturday morning Mr. f ^ H H i ^ w a s s e nt to a h o s p ita l and was seen by a p h ys icia n ( Dr. Conway) a t about noon. He appe ared to be a ve ry large muscular man d e fi n i t e l y i l l w ith nausea and diarhe a but w ith no pain and no C. N. S. symptoms e xce p tin g p o s s ib ly some le th a rg y . There was no h is to ry o f pre vious i l l n e s s , the p a tie n t having been pre vio usly unusually h e alth y and s tro n g. There was no h is t o r y o f mental symptoms a s s o cia te d w ith ? . I . Phys ical examination revealed nothing e xce pting ronchi a t both low ers. The h e art was n e g a tiv e . No d ia gn o s is was made but an acute gas tro e n t e r i t i s due to food po ino ning was co n s ide re d. A s in kin g s p e ll was re porte d by Dr. Mu lle t Saturday a fte rn o o n . The p a tie n t became weak dye pnoe ic and semi comutose. Aft e r t h i s f i r s t s in kin g s p e ll the p a tie n t re cove re d s u ffi c i e n t l y to say th a t he f e l t much improved and to ask fo r food w hich was denie d him. Saturday e ve ning a second s in k in g s p e ll o ce ure d. Dr. Conway saw the p a tie n t a t t h i s tim e . Co n d itio n was s im d liar to f i r s t s in kin g s p e ll and now th e re was an ashe n gre y co lo r and se ve re cy a n o s is . His to ry o f e xposure had been obtaine d a t t h i s time and Ca was giv e n ( The time r e la tio n o f-t h e Ca the rapy n o t a ccu ra te ly o btaine d) At t h i s time th e re was d e fin it e co n s o lid a tio n o f both lun gs a t the b as e s . There seems to have been no e le v a tio n o f te mpe rature pre vio us to t h i s tim e . The p ati&n t die d during *3? the second s in k in g s p e l l . cm Ci Autopsy was n o t done u n t i l the body wa3 embalmed. There were no par ""U t i c u l a r l y s i g n i fi c a n t fin d in g s . The o n ly p o in ts worth m e ntio ning were the CM o repeated mention o f the s tr ik in g ly dark co lo r o f the blo o d, enlargment o f the l i v e r and s p le e n , the rapid darke ning ( blacke n in g) o f the l i v e r and sple e n on s e ctio n ; the fa c t th a t the cu t s urface o f the l i v e r and sple e n ( t o a le s s e x te n t) biacke ne d s t r i k i n g ly on a p p lic a tio n o f Amonium Su lp h id e . The lungs `-U showed s tr ik in g co n ge s tio n and lo c a liz e d c o n s o lid a tio n , the l o c a l i z a t i o n o f co n s o lid a tio n be ing clo s e to ge th e r and o n ly de te rmined on s e c t i i n s . Atte n t i o n was c i i l e d to the gran u lar black pigme nt in the lun gs which was n o t thught to be o rdinary a n th ra c o s is . The G. I . t r a c t was give n l i t t l e me ntion e xce p tin g th a t the y co ntaine d w atery co n te n t. There was a la rge stone found in the gau l bladde r but b ile was found in the stomach and no o b s tru ctio n was thought to N22821.01 have e x is te d . The C. N. S. was no t e xamined. An ti mortem blood examina tio n showed s t r ik in g co n ce n tratio n o f blood w ith Hb so high i t co uld n o t be re ad. Blood count n o t remembered by c l i n a t i a n - no morphologic change o bs e rve d. A d iagn o s is o f acute le ad po ino ning was made w ith no m e ntion o f the type or po ssible source. The p a th o lo g is t fe e l s rathe r d e fi n i t e l y th a t t h i s was a case o f le ad p o in o n in g. He fe e ls th a t the pro o f w i l l re s t on the r e s u lt o f tis s u e a n a ly s is he i s try in g to have done by Dr. Mo rris . He i s u n w illin g to d is cu s s s ig n i fica n ce o f e xposure fe e lin g th a t i t i a i r r e le v a n t . He i s u n w illin g to send t i s s u e s to Ke tte rin g Labo rato ry u n t i l Dr. Mo rris has made h is re po rt and u n t i l he fin d s the re can be no p o s s ib le o b je ctio n from any quarte r. The men a t the F i l l i n g St a t i o n were in te rvie w e d . The Ch i e f He lpe r in the che cking proceedure had h e a d a c h y , nause a and se ve re diarhe a during the afte rn o o n o f the che cking and la t e r re ce ive d in tra ve in o u s C A the rapy as proph y l a c t i c tre atme nt from Dr. Conway. He admits th a t h is symptoms might have been psychic. The Widow was no t seen as i t was f e l t th a t any one re p re s e n tin g the Co rpo ratio n should not appear to be on the de fe ns ive a t t h i s tim e . I t was le arne d however from the p h ys icia n s in charge , th a t the case had been put in the hands o f an atto rn e y o f que s tio nable re p u ta tio n . The a tto rn e y however, a ft e r fin d in g th a t the widow had no money, advise d he r to l e t the eaee dro p. Very probably n o th in g w i l l $ $ $$$% & come o f th e case l e g a l l y . I f the re i s a re p o rt o f le ad be in g found in the t i s s u e s however, some a ctio n may r e s u lt . - i t - i .,3 ( . 4 S,'f vt_e - /J-Ot-v) % c iW i' )^ ***> \ ^ vj YVvA-to. J Ju aX ' I U *.iA ~ u .z ^ K E 0021925