Document VJLOR6XpMvmV52wNd7EDgmobK

/- COPY/ jACttfiO*1 ^ C?, Solicitors. awnn'AmoLO iiutta, oionAosrt*ottoofnmwunrrncwoluw"*. Tlegraas> *JAOO. rochoacbT TCICPHONC N?<4ia7 HsumiI \, N.A. Uorling, Bsq., U. *. Messrs. Turner Brothers Asbestos Co. LUAimWAitWeadU,i "* ROCHDALEe /.i *....> ^ocAcAzA1. 24th March ^^50. Dear Ur. Marling, Coroner's Inquests in Asbestosis or Suspected Aabeatoaia Cases. As arranged at our Conference on the 14th instant, I have seen Mr. A.S. Coupe, the County Coroner, about the various matters union x was told to raise wixn him. Vo had a Iona talk and I found llr. Coupe very ready to listen to ' wiiat I bad to say. I explained at the beginning that your * I Company has no desire to avoid its responsibilities "dr to I u'uppTBBS aay unpalatable taCtfl.------1 told hiffl^that we >111 / welcome cooperation With his Pathologist. I also told him what a lot has been and la being done in the way of research. ft is the Coroner's intention to employ Dr. Manning in all cases wnere industrial diseaseV'ers present or are suspected . 1 ---------------------------------- - It surprised me to hear from Ur. Renshew that there have in fact been ve y few cases in the past 10 years in which the Coroner's Verdict has differed from the filial conclusion reached by the Pneumoconiosis Board. I certainly thought that this sort of discrepancy had occurred on many more occasions. In view of Ur. Renshaw's information, I did not press this aspect of the matter very such, though I did point out to the Coroner that it was obviously desirable for him to return a true Verdict and one which is not later differed from by the Board, particularly as it la a fact that the country's vital statistics are based on the reports sent in by the Coroner to the Registrar General. the Coroner quite agrees that you should be given the earliest possible notification of every case. I was able to tell him that in this respect ve have had every assistance from Sergeant Oittins. He asked if it would be better for our Pathologist to attend the Post Uortem exsainations, either instead of or in addition to Dr. Knox, but I told him that I did not think that it was neoessary for our Pathologist to be JACKSON fit Qj (Comlnuericm Sheet.) '.A. tforllng. l^so.. tieeara. Turner Pros 24th March 1950. nabostos Co. Ltd.. drought In at such an early stags and that It was likely that our Pathologist might not be available at short notice. The main function of the Pathologist! as X sea it, la to give a histological report and, of course, he is not able to deal with this until a inter stage when the slides have been prepared. I expect you and Dr. Knox will agree that your representative at these post mortem examinations should be Dr. Knox. t told the Coroner about the new process of inflating the lungs and explained how this would cause some delay in the preparation of the slides for microscopic examination. The Coroner had not heard previously ab>ut this new development. He appreciated that when the new process is used, Dr. Knox will be dependent on getting his sections of lung tissue from Dr. vanning, Dr. Knox being unable in such cases to take sections for himself. , . X got the impression that the Coroner was very anxious indeed to aVold~a Clash or medical testimony;-" He had Treed :--- from M?. Arthur Davidson ~aDout~ths difficulty in which Ur. Davidson foum himself when acting as Coroner in Thomas Butler's 4 case. You will remember that in that case, the evidence of Dr. Oddy of the Rochdale Infirmary (acting on that occasion as tba Coroner's Pathologist) was in conflict with Professor Stewart's evidence. In order to ovoid this sort of confllot, the Coroner would like the two Pathologiets to meet and dlscus8( these cases before the Inquest. He would welcome the closest liamon between Dr. Knox and Dr. Manning and he assured me that Dr. Knox must consider himself entirely at liberty to diacuas thess cases frankly with Dr. Manning at any stags. If Dr. Knox doea this, the Coroner will not take the line that his witness is being tampered with, he was most emphatic about this. & As regards the preparation of the slides. Mr. Coups thought that something was to ha said for leaving it to Dr. Manning only to prepare slides and for hla elides to be examined by both Pathologists Jointly. X told him that X thought it was probably better for each Pathologist to make his own elides, although I agreed that a full exchange of information would be helpful. X understand that only a vary small part of the lungs ia actually examined under the mlcrosaope even if e lot of slides ere made. X had this in mind whan I told the Coroner that I thought the duplication of work was not wasteful and was in faot to be recommended. The actual programme to bo followed In each case would appear to depend on whether Dr. Manning wishes to uas tbs inflation procsss or not* Tha Coroner thinks that Dr* Knox .U'f.i'.v,-- _. ----:------- --i 1 >N & Co. (Continuation Sheet.) M.A. Horllng. Eag. Messrs, Turner Bros. Asbestos Co. Ltd. and Dr.* Manning should make their own arrangement* each time they meet at a post-mortem examination. I think it can be assumed that Ur. Knox will get every cooperation from Dr. Manning in this respect. Mo doubt Dc. Knox will be seeing Dr. Manning in the near future. I think they should have a preliminary talk ae soon as possible. I told the Coroner that we understand that Professor Stewart is likely to retire before very long and tLat the question of a pointing hia successor will be cooing under consideration. T..e Coroner appreciates that you will want an expert but be expressed the hope that you would find someone not too far away, so that it will nut ba made unnecessarily difficult for the two Pathologists to work to the same time-table. The only cases which the Coroner considers urgent are those in which the relatives desire cremation. Be would like in such cases to do everything in hie power to enable the wishes of the relatives to bo cat ried out. As I have explained to you before, cremation la not allowed unless thq ^nrPnaT* hyp reached a concluded verdict. If the relatWtfl"5eslre burial, the coroner wifi, nave no objection at all to adjourning these Inquests so as to allow a generous amount of time for th* Pathologists to have their Joint discussions. The Coroner told me that he woulu speak to Dr. Manning about tbeae matters generally and Z feel sure that Dr. Knox will find, when he gets in touch with Dr. Manning, that the latter will do what he aan to make matters run as smoothly as possibl*. As regards- the choice of a auooesaor to Professor Stewart, it peems to me that you must employ someone who is prepared to work at least as quickly as Dr. Manning, although the need for urgency only arises in the cases whsrs cremation Is wanted. It seem* likely that, as time goes on, ths proportion of cases in Which the relatives want cremation may increase. / I aa^ enolosing a copy of this letter in case you wish to send one to Dr. Knox. Yours faithfully, as aa a a a O M! 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