Document B5x6gmxYvOpEG3Zpb840ZZevk

D ecem ber 5, 1958 D r. E a rl W. Doty 295 La V erne Avenue Belmont Shores Long B each 3, C alifornia Dear E arl: I send you herew ith a copy of the rep o rt of the analytical finding in the urine of M r. L. E. R ice. The rep o rt and the le tte r will bo self-explanatory. I think I should com m ent on one aspect of your letter,, in that th ere seem s to have been an undue hesitation on your p art - or perhaps it was on the p a rt of the other doctors - to exam ine this m an and to send sam ples of blood and urine to us for analysis. R egardless of the source of the concern lest this m an's anxiety be increased by the investigation of his status, I consider this to have been an unduly tim id and u n re a listic approach to the problem . Throughout the h isto ry of th is business e n te rp rise , we have been ready to in v e s tig a te any c a se p ro b le m th a t a r o s e . Indeed, we have been pledged, as a m atter of policy, to the conduct of a m edical investigation whenever it seem ed n e c e s s a ry o r p e rtin e n t. I have n e v e r known, an honest m an o r patient to re a c t badly to a sin cere effort to estab lish the facts. Pussyfooting with th e s e p ro b le m s in v ite s su sp ic io n add ru n s th e r is k of inviting litig a tio n . We have nothing to cover up, and if v;e should find evidence of significant exposure to tetra e th y l lead under any cf the conditions which we now believe to be fre e of hazard, we shall have to investigate furth er until the facts can be m ade clear. Your job is not to propitiate cu sto m ers o r th e ir m edical re p re se n ta tiv e s, if such seem s to be expected by the la tte r, but to m aintain satisfacto ry conditions of working, and to establish the facts in a c le ar and definitive m anner, if situations a ris e in which the p recautionary m ea su re s which we have advised fail for any reason to be satisfactory, I suspect that you appreciate these m atters, and that your m anner of expressing y o u rse lf gave the wrong im p re ssio n to m e, N ev erth eless, in o rd e r to keep m a tte rs straig h t between u s, it seem s wise to m ake this position quite c le ar. Never fe a r to investigate, and alw ays undertake, by appropriate m eans, to estab lish the fa c ts. It is by th ese m eans th at we have m anaged to keep this industry responsible for proper perform ance. - KB 0015313 Sincerely yours, D r. E arl W. Doty * (2) - D ecem ber 5, 1958 P . S. I cam e to the age of co m p u lso ry re tire m e n t on D ecem b er 1, and am no longer resp o n sib le fo r the d irectio n of E thyl's m edical a ffa irs . You will be dealing with D r. K itzm iller, h e re afte r, in m atters of policy and perform ance in connection with the day's work. Sam ples sent to the L aboratory for analysis, however, a re m y business, since I handle all of the work of the L aboratory that h as to do with. le a d . You c an continue, th e r e f o re , to ad v ise m e of th e fa c ts concerning req u ests of this type, with a copy to D r. K itzm iller, so that he will be aw are of what goes on in relation to Ethyl and refin ery personnel under your supervision. ' R.A.K.