Document 85gVEQjRDkwJL2RjnyBrG90Xd

July h* 1 93k D r. Graham Edgar E thyl Gasoline Corporation Chrysler Building Hew York C ity Hew ^ork Dear Edgars We a re e n c lo sin g h e re w ith copy o f a l e t t e r of Dr* C h arles W. S tephenson, our p re v io u s co rresp o n dence w ith th is gentleman having heen forwarded to you. The c l l n i c a j ^ ^ | t u r e d e s c rib e d by Dr* Stephenson f o r Mr. t f f l H H U f i s v ery s i m i l a ^ t ^ t h ^ ^ ^ one w hich we saw i s l S a l a n e l y r o l l owing Mr* a tta c k of encephalopathy in September l952^ x j^ o u lT j> 9 v ery d i f f i c u l t f o r anyone to s t a t e t h a t Mr. f l H H H fSBBt p re s e n t symptoms a re r e la te d to h is p rev io u s a t ta c k . On th e o th e r h an d , i n l i g h t o f o u r p r e s e n t knowledge of th e s to ra g e o f le a d , we co u ld n o t be p o s itiv e in our statem en ts th a t i t was not so r e l a t e d . I t i s our p erso n al o p in io n t h a t th e re i s some lik e lih o o d o f d i r e c t r e l a t i o n sh ip from pur experience w ith previous cases of lead encephalopathy and o th er m a terials e ffe c tin g the c e n tra l nervous system . We would a p p r e c ia te knowing w hether o r n o t at: P re se n t r e c e iv in g com pensation from the c^RnBarcTOil Company, and what o p in io n of th is case D r. S t.J o h n may have g iv e n th e management of th e H a rtfo rd P la n t where he a c ts as company p h y sio ian and has b een , I b e lie v e , Mr. personal physician. Very tru ly yours, W FM iIS W illa rd F , M achie, M.D. 0017201 D r. R o b ert A . Kehoe ' U n iv ersity o f C in c in n ati C ollege o f M edicine C in c in n a ti, Ohio. My d e a r D r. Kehoes 'l C hiefly fo r your records and n o t, I b eliev e, fo r any help in my p a r t i c u l a r re la tio n s h ip _ ta _ f c he c a s e , I g iv e you a b r i e f summary . of the case of o f H a rtfo rd . I th in k when you f in is h you v d lljp ro b a o T ^ c o m e to th e conclusion th a t I have f i n a l l y a r r iv e d a t , -th at t h i s i s n o t so much a case o f le a d p o is o n - ing as to x ic e ffe c ts from gasoline fumes. ^ On S ep te m b er.14, 1932 th e p a t i e n t was c le a n in g a g as ta n k b e lo n g in g to th e S tan d a rd O il Company h e re i n H a rtfo rd . There was in s u f f ic ie n t hose to h is gas mask fo r, him to re a c h a l l p a rts o f th e ta n k . C onsequently, he dispensed 7/ith th e mask fo r p a r t o f h is w ork. Two o th e r men w ere s i m i l a r l y exposed th o u g h f o r a s h o r t e r tim e . They were each h o s p ita lis e d b u t fo r a day or so o n ly , a f a c t which is in m arked c o n t r a s t t o t h e p a t i e n t voider d i s c u s s i o n . One s ta te m e n t say s th a t th e p a tie n t was exposed to g a so lin e vapor and "a co n sid erab le amount o f dust" though th i s l a t t e r is not d e f in ite ly e s ta b lis h e d . He was r a t h e r su d d en ly a tta c k e d w ith d i z z i n e s s , w eakness and n a u s e a . The fo llo w in g day he s u f f e r e d w ith d ia r r h e a and fre q u e n t v o m itin g . T h is c o n d itio n p e r s i s t e d f o r a b o u t a w eek and th e n su b sid e d t o some e x te n t. There w as, however, co n stan t insom nia and re s tle s s n e s s . The h ead ach e, n a u se a and v o m itin g l a r g e l y d is a p p e a re d . On Septem ber 2 1 st th e re was an acu te o n set o f d e liriu m , h a llu c in a tio n s and d elu sio n s accom panied by g e n e r a liz e d m u scu lar tr e m o r s . He vms ta k e n t o S t . F ra n c is H o sp ital h e re in H a rtfo rd and tr e a te d by magnesium su lp h a te in tr a v e n o u s ly w hich r e s u l t e d i n d e f i n i t e im provem ent. He became f a i r l y w e ll o r ie n t e d and showed re a s o n a b le ju d g m en t. On Septem ber 2 3 rd th e m e n tal symptoms r e tu r n e d a n d w ere c o n tr o lle d - h y a second i n j e c t i o n o f magnesium s u lp h a t e . On t h e 2 4 th t h e r e was a f u r t h e r r e c u r r e n c e and S t . F ra n c is H o sp ital d eclin ed to keep him because o f h is d istu rb a n c e to o th e r p a t i e n t s . He vra.s th e n t r a n s f e r r e d t o th e ^ e u r o - p s y c h ia tr i c I n s t i t u t e and H o s p ita l o f The H a r tf o r d R e t r e a t f o r f u r t h e r tr e a tm e n t. D r. M achie was c a l l e d from Hew York t o see th e c a se a n d ^ e l i e v e d i t to be an encephalopathy due to lead or p o ssib ly g aso lin e" . Ihe p a t ie n t was i n th e R e tr e a t u n t i l November 1 8 th , 1932 a t v h ic h tim e he v/as ta k e n o u t a t th e r e q u e s t o f h i s l o c a l p h y s ic ia n who s t a t e d t h a t then h is condition represented h is ordinary p erso n a lity before the accident . :: ': I f i r s t saw th e p a tie n t a t th e re q u e s t of h is law yer bn the.- 20th o f A p ril 1934, At th is ' tim e he com plained of p ain in th e back o f h is n e c k , p a in i n h i s e a r s , and c a tc h e s i n h is t h r o a t . He s a i d t h a t once i n a w h ile h is b r a i n "d is o lv e d " an d l a t e r came b a c k i n t o p la c e and If , Vjj : K 00172^2 - - 2- July 7, 1934. , com plained o f a co n tin u o u s "commotion" i n h i s m ind. He h as d i f f i c u l t y o f c o n c e n tr a tio n an d f e e l s d u l l e d . There was some ev id e n c e o f im pairm ent o f memory. For exam ple, he s a id t h a t he f a i l e d to remember appointm ents u n le s s he j o t t e d them dovm. This was t r u e i n re g a rd t o h is appointm ents 'with me. N eu ro lo g ical exam ination on A p ril 23rd was e n t ir e ly n e g a tiv e . There was no evidence o f any c ra n ia l nerve involvem ent. A ll re fle x e s were norm al, no p a re s is . C oordination norm al. S ensation (v ib ra tio n , p a i n , to u c h , j o i n t ) a l l n o rm a l. A t t h i s tim e h e t o l d me o f c e r t a i n episodes o f a h a llu c in a to ry and d elu sio n ary nature'w hich occurred w hile he was in th e H artfo rd R e tre a t. These he s t i l l b eliev ed to be r e a l ex p e rie n c e s an d n o t j u s t a dream . He s t a t e d t h a t he s t i l l h ad th e s e t r a n c e s . One change w hich h e has n o ti c e d i n h im s e lf i s t h a t th e r e i s a g r e a t l y in c re a s e d s u s c e p t i b i l i t y t o a lc o h o l, so much so t h a t two g la s s e s o f b e e r made him s u f f i c i e n t l y w ild to t r y to smash up a p la c e i n Hew York. A t th e p re s e n t tim e th e re was no d iso rd e r o r a lte r a tio n o f th e s e x u a l f u n c ti o n . He com plained g r e a t l y o f in so m n ia . SJg 9 There was a c e r ta in p aran o id tre n d ran through h is m en tal fu n c tio n in g . , For exam ple, som ething went wrong w ith h is car and he to ld h is w ife t h a t he th o u g h t someone h ad b e e n monkeying v /ith i t , t h a t it- w a s .some s o r t o f a fram e-u p . A t th e tim e o f h is e x c e ssiv e r e a c tio n to two g la s s e s o f b e e r he re c e iv e d a b lack eye and f e l t t h a t t h a t was a l l p rem ed itated and planned in advance. ' On A p r il 3 0 th h e t o l d me t h a t he had th e f e e l i n g o f someone fo llo w in g him and t e l l i n g him h e was d o in g w rong. W alking dovm t h e s t r e e t h e th o u g h t th e r e migjht b e a mind r e a d e r th e r e t e l l i n g him w hat to d o , and t h a t he was w alking w ith Je su s, th e Holy Ghost and " a l l o f them" . There i s no a c tu a l h allu cin a tio n since he l e f t the H artford R etreat. : I saw him a g a in to d ay co m p lain in g o f h e a d a c h e , .- o c c a s io n a lly b lu e f la s h b e fo re h is eyes vdiich he th o u g h t m ight be fla s h e s o f l i g h t s e n t by some fa m ily l i v i n g n e a r him t o annoy h im , b u t he c o u ld n o t u n d e rs ta n d how t h i s c o u ld be s in c e he a l s o saw them on t h e s t r e e t . He h as th e same head ache as before second o n se t. Sleeps only about four hours a n ig h t, fe e ls weak when w alk in g . S t i l l has th e f e e l in g t h a t Jesu s or someone i s w alking alo n g b e sid e him and f e e ls -th a t he h as many more r e lig io u s th o u g h ts th a n any n o rm al man sh o u ld h av e.- ' . , . Going b a c k ;to th e tim e he was in th e R e tre a t la b o ra to ry fin d in g s were a s fo llo w s s Si~. ' .: S e p t.24,1932 Wass & Kahn on two o c c a sio n s, b o th n e g a tiv e . - Blood WRC 8700- - O o t.4 ,1 9 3 2 WBC 9 ,1 0 0 ................. ` T" RBC'4 ,8 8 0 * 0 0 0 '" " RBC 5 ,1 2 0 ,0 0 0 ~ Hgb. 1 4 .1 Mg p e r 100 c c . . Hgb 1 4 .6 : Smear n orm al. - Smear s t i l l norm al. r ' - No s t i p p l i n g c e l l s f o u n d .' . ; BloodC hem istry - Sugar 88 Sugar 113.6 ' NPN 3 5 .4 ` . NPN 4 6 .1 B rine showed tr a c e o f albumen and a few -w hite e p i t h e l i a l c e l l s . This cleared , however, and a l l subsequent:exam inations were e s s e n tia lly norm al. " HP 0017"' P / 3 . -- -. July 7, 1934. Ho le a d was e v e r found i n th e u r in e t h a t I have been a b l e t o ch ase down. I t i s my can d id o p in io n t h a t th e man h a s a d e f i n i t e p s y c h o s is secondary to h is ex p o su re, b u t I aim.not w illin g to ex p ress an op in io n as t o w h e th e r t h i s i s d i r e c t l y due t o g a s o lin e o r t o le a d . The ab se n c e o f the fin d in g of any lead out-put or any lab o rato ry evidence o f th e existence o f le a d i n t h e body, i n c l i n e s me to w ard th e g a s o lin e fume th e o r y . I f th e r e is in a l l t h i s , an y th in g which you can p o in t to as evidence one way o r th e o th e r, I would b e g la d to know i t . U n fo rtu n a te ly he re tu rn e d t o w ork a f t e r he l e f t th e R e tre a t and consequently has jeo p ard ized h is com pensation to w h ich , I f e e l , he i s f u l l y e n t i t l e d . I am v e r y d o u b tfu l as t o t h e u ltim a te outcome, fe e lin g t h a t sin c e th e p sychosis has p e r s is te d f o r alm ost two y e a rs w ith v e ry s l i g h t im provement, th e chances o f recovery a re n o t to o good. I t r u s t t h a t t h i s a c c o u n t i s n o t to o lo n g and ra m b lin g and may c o n c e iv a b ly be o f some h e lp t o you a s a n o th e r case f o r s tu d y . CWSiE 0017204