Document Ov0Kmgx2rBZgqjeY850Gn8Kp

. i. / C A B L E G R A MS: E T H YL P O R T , LO N DON . t el eg r am s: ET H Y L PORT , SOW EST . Telep hon e: VICTORIA 14 4 1 ETHYL EX PORT CORPORATION In c o rp o ra te d in th e S ta te o f D e la w a r e . U . S . A . w i t h lim ite d lia b ility . THAM ES H OUSE,M I L L BANK L ONDON. S.W.I H ea d Office: 135 EAST 421 S TR E E T NEW YO RK, U S. A 17th November, 1926. Dr. R.A. Kehoe, College of medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio U.S.A. Dear Dr. Kehoe, I am enclosing herewith a copy of a letter we have received from S.I.A.P. in connection with the man Vescia whose name you will remember. Unfortunately, the report of professor Preti referred to is in Italian but I hope you will not have any great difficulty in getting this translated. Professor Preti's examination would, seem to confirm the views expressed by yourself and Dodds namely, that the complaint from which this man is suffering has no connection with tetraethyl lead. The situation is, however, awkward in that the Italo-Americana wish to get rid of this man. He has done ho work for two years, and for reasons connected with their labour laws they would prefer to discharge him with the compensation to which he is entitled rather than keep him on the pay roll indefinitely. They warn us, however, that this may involve them in a law suit for further compensation and should this law suit come about our name is bound to be brought in since his story will be that his health has been ruined due to tetraethyl lead poisoning contracted whilst in the employ of S.I.A.P. You will remember of course, that this man was not employed at a mixing plant, but was called in contrary to all regulations to adjust a faulty pump. He later complained of sickness which was diagnosed by our consultant l at Monopoli as lead poisoning.. The Ital-Americana have looked after him ever since and on each occasion that he was sent back to work he immediately complained of feeling ill and was placed on the sick list once more. After talking it over with Hawkins we have agreed that we may just as well face the possibility of a suit at this time as later and it is therefore, the intention of S.I.A.P. to dispense with the services of this man allowing him as mentioned previously all the compensation that is due to him. (I do not know HZ 000 o 0 <j N7803 \ Dr. E.A. Kehoe d a t e .i7th.Jov.arob.er.,.193.6., what this entails, but I take it that he will be v/ell taken care of). It seems to me that our position is fairly clear although we may have to face some small amount of publicity in Italy, I see no reason why it should amount to anything serious, but would appreciate any views you may have on the matter. With kind regards K'E' 0007153 12 th November, 19 36 . Ethyl Export Cor por ation , Thames House, Killb a n k, London* 3.W.I. Michele Teaola Dear S ir s , Followin g up th e correspon dence exchanged in r e the above, we herewith append memorandum from Pr of . Lu igi P r e t i comment in g on ^ H M flR p h ya ica l con d ition * We r e gr e t n ot bein g a b le t o hand you an En glish t r a n s la t io n o f t h is memorandum, but as th e same is based on t e ch n ica l determ in ation s we la ck th e s e r vice s o f a competent t r a n s la t o r who could th or ou gh ly ca r r y out t h is work in t h e s t r ic t m edical sense* We, t h e r e fo r e , submit same t o you in th e o r igin a l and t r u s t t h a t Dr. Keh oe's knowledge o f La tin and French w ill be of a s sist a n ce to him In r eviewin g t h is study* We m ight add t h a t we fe e l t h a t t h e d M H fc case was ver y com petently handled by Prof* P r e t i, and t h a t th e r e s u lt o f h is search work cor r ob or a tes t h e opin io n expressed by your m edical fr ie n d s in London, namely, t h a t s h o w e d no le a d in t o xica t io n , and t h a t th e symptoms and s ign s o f which he com plained o f at t h e tim e o f exposure can be a scr ib ed t o in h a la t io n o f Gasolin e fumes, Tfh io h a r ein t er p r et ed a s bein g th e prim ary con tr ib u tor y eviden ce o f ^ M f c in toxication * So t h a t you may more r e a d ily fo r a an op in ion , b r ie fly summarize P r o f. P r e t i*a clo s in g comments:** "From th e for egoin g i t can be con cluded t h a t : 1) From t h e symptomatology presen ted on J Uly 5t h , 1934, th e existen c o f le a d I n t o xica t ion has n ot beta: s u ffic ie n t ly demonstrated and one cannot t h er efo r e admit t h a t t h er e was an in t o xica t io n due t o lea d exposure* . 2) In view o f t h e in a d m iss ib ilit y o f an i n i t i a l lea d in t o xica t lo n , not t h e symptoms n ot iced by Vcseia a ft e r ca r r yin g out h is work on J u ly 3th , 1934, can be a scr ib ed t o Gasolin e in toxication * 3) At t h e presen t time t h er e does n ot e x is t any sign or le s io n from lea d I n t o xica t io n . Eth yl Export Co rp., London 12t h November 19 36 4.) The even tu al symptoms from l & i c h ^ P H B i s a ct u a lly complain in g, i f a p er iod o f tim e w ill confirm t h is , i s due t o an ophthalm oscopic phenomena which has been observed in th e p a p illa ! o f h is r igh t eye, and which can be ascr ib ed t o a phenomena o f p r essu r e on the op t ic n erve from th e chiasms t o th e op t ic foramen, which le s io n , with a l l ce r t a in t y, can be excluded as h avin g been caused from lea d in t o xica t io n . In order t o e la r ify t h is statem en t we th in k i t w e ll t o mention t h a t in th e body o f P r o f, P r e t i's r ep or t he in d ica t e s t h e p o s s ib ilit y o f the existen ce o f a tumour or oth er substance which may exp lain th e aforementioned le s io n s . Th is d ia gn osis, however, can on ly be confirmed with th e p a ssin g o f tim e and he con cludes t h a t i f t h is e x is t ence could be determined i t would exp la in th e cause _ fo r ^ H L c o n t i n u e d com plaints and t h e d istu r b a n ces which have been notusedT In view o f th e for egoin g i t is goin g to be very d iffic u lt for U3 to dispose of t h is case, e sp e cia lly as ^ f ^ h i s on ly p h ys ica lly f i t to undertake th e lig h t e s t form of w o r k^ t fe must a lso not lo s e sigh t o f the fa c t th at he has been a fa it h fu l and competent employee o f t h is company fo r close on t o the past 20 yea r s, which fa ct com plicates the company's p o sit io n vis*a via th e e xist in g labou r Syn dicate r e gu la t io n s, and which we are at p resen t t r yin g to r e co n cile , in or d er t o meet t h is sp e cia l ca se. P r io r to ta kin g any d e fin it e a ct ion in t h e m atter , however, we would welcome an exp r ession from you. Yours ver y t r u ly , SOCIHTA* ITALO iiMEHICAHA PEL P3TH0LI0 Managing Dir ect or CCC/ JR En el.