Document 93MgJpBkwB8Mj4z4RMnxeOB85

Dr .Fr a n k R.M o r t o n , D IR E C T O R OF MEDICAL DEPT. O n- Co m pa n y (In d i a n a ) 910 S o u t h Mi c h i g a n Av e n u e T Dec* / 1 Q ; 1 --j D - U ' JL Dr. Robert ICshoe, College of M edicine, Uni v e r s I t y o f Ci n e i n n a t i -, C in cin n ati Ohio. Dear Dr. .Kahoe: R e p ly in g to your l e t t e r of De cem ber 2 n d , we llave j u s t l o s t o ur f i r s t case, o f any kind, b e fo re tlie I n d u s tr ia l Board, of, C hicago, a n d t h a t g o e s b a c k to 1913.. . .The h i s t o r y o f t h e case is as fo llo w s: . One of. o u r s e r v i c e . s t a t i o n men, a month or s ix weeks a f t e r he had been having tr o u b l e w i t h h i s e y e s , came i n to s e e me and was r e f e r r e d to o u r eye man. Our eye man, a good o n e, diagnosed h is c o n d itio n a s an i r i t i s ; r r im e r ily an o n set and not secondary to any d ise a s e of the conjunctiva or to the cornea. T h is man was t r e a t e d by h i s own p h y s i c i a n b e c a u s e we d e n i e d r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . H is own p h y s i c i a n w a s n e g l e c t f u l o r i n c o m p e t e n t w i t h the r e s u l t th a t th e i r i s became fle x e d to -th e lenz., and he had a secondary glaucoma, n e c e s s ita tin g an o p eratio n and wi th th e o p eratio n lo ss of sig h t in the eye. . , , The c o m p la in a n t in p r e s e n t i n g h is case claimed th a t in p u ttin g E thyl gasoline in a car one of the hoses sprinkled gasoline, in to h is r i g h t e y e . He c la im s i m m e d ia te ly , e v e n b e f o r e f i l l i n g th e ta n k , to have gone in and washed h is eye o u t w i t h w a t e r , m a k in g a cup w i t h h i s h a n d . He did not v i s i t a doctor u n til four or fiv e days l a te r . The d o c to r in h i s testim o n y made a d ia g n o s is of i r i t i s and excluded in h is testim o n y any symptoms of c o n ju n c tiv itis . There was no pussy d isc h a rg e ; in f a c t, he s a id the d isc h arg e was w atery and s t e r i l e , although he did not make sm ears. We i n t r o d u c e d e v i d e n c e on e x p e r i m e n t a l b a s i s o f some g u in e a p i g s who h ad E t h y l Dr. R obert if. Kehoe 12/4/31 . g aso lin e dropped in th e ir eyes every day over a p e rio d of twenty days w ith no bad a f t e r e f fe c ts .. We w e re u n a b l e , i r o n a l e g a l s t a n d p o in t, to p u t on w itn esse s o f a number of cases o f men who h ad g o t t e n E th y l g a s o lin e i n t h e i r e y e s , b e c a u s e we c o u ld n o t d e m o n s t r a t e l e g a l l y t h a t th e g a s o lin e th e y g o t i n t h e i r eyes came o u t o f th e same ta n k and was e x a c t l y th e same g a so lin e . -. . t Of c o u rs e , we w i l l c a r r y t h i s c a s e u p t o t h e h i g h e r c o u r t s . We a r e w a i t i n g fo r the tr a n s c r ip t of the same. ; This case, both before and during t h e t r i a l , b r o u g h t ' t o my m ind t h e q u e s t i o n a s to why th e E th y l G a so lin e C o rp o ra tio n h a s .n o t con d u c te d e x p e rim e n ts to show th e e f f e c t upon th e human s k in , p o s s ib l y th e human e y e , c e r t a i n l y on anim al eyes, of any i r r i t a t i o n from E thyl Gaso lin e as i t is marketed? There is nothing in the l i t e r a t u r e on t h i s m a t t e r and I know t h a t m ost o f . t h e c l a i m s w hich we g e t f r o m tim e to t i n e a r e based upon the conclusion of doctors th at Ethyl gasoline is a m ysterious poison; th a t i ts p o ssi b i l i t i e s o f harm are kept under cover and th a t alm ost an y th in g can be caused, e ith e r by g e ttin g E th y l G aso lin e on th e s k in , o r in th e e y e, or even the in h a la tio n of same. I should th in k . i t would have p aid th e E th y l C orporation to have conducted experim ents in a good c l i n i c under p ro per observation along th is lin e . We a r e g o in g t o be c a l l e d u p o n w ith in th e next few months to defend- a sk in d ise a se which is supposed to have been caused by g a s o lin e s p i l l i n g on a man' s body. The s k i n d isease has been dem onstrated as being p ity ria s is v e r s i c o l o r , a d i s e a s e a l l i e d t o th e r i n g worm v a r i e t y . We h a v e w o rk e d t h i s c a s e up v e r y w e l l . Have p ic tu r e s of th e s k in , p ic tu r e s o f th e"fungus and s p o r e s a n d have -..one e v e r y t h i n g p o s s i b l e t o g e t o u r c a s e i n s h a p e , b u t , a s y o u know , ''E t h y l " is a very m ysterious person and i t makes i t aw fully d if f ic u lt to explain, a f te r the newspaper n o to rie ty w h ic h t h e DuPont Company and t h e Hew J e r s e y Company had covering a period of y ears. E is h y o u w o u ld l e t me h a v e y o u r v ie w s about th is experim ental proposition. . ,/ith kindest personal reg ard s, Very t r u l y y o urs,