Document dYonYN2DMKGawponRnYE52wO0

c 0 P Y In Reply R efer To: H . UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Los Alamos S c i e n t i f i c L a b o ra to ry (C o n tra c t - 7i|.05-Eng-36) P . 0 , Box 1663 Los Alamos, New Mexico July 18, 1956 C 0 p Y Mr. M anfred Bowditch Lead In d u strie s A ssociation li20 Lexington Avenue New York 17, New York > Dear Manfred: H enceforth, I s h a ll have nothing fu rth e r to say on th e subject of D r. G ie s s e l. R eading h i s l e t t e r o f J u ly 5 t o th e B a tte r y Company, however, im pels me t o f i r e one f i n a l s h o t. I f I i n t e r p r e t th e im p lic a tio n s o f t h i s l e t t e r c o r r e c t l y , we have h ere a ra th e r c la s s ic example of th e w orst type o f m a il-o rd er m e d ic in e . In e sse n c e , t h i s i s th e s i t u a t i o n : On th e b a s is o f a sin g le laboratory te s t and apparently w ithout b e n e fit of h isto ry o r p h y sica l exam ination, a p h y sician i s ad v isin g a layman to a d m in is te r a d ru g . The drug has been shown to b e ^ p o te n tia lly dan g ero u s, w h ile th e mode o f a d m in is tr a tio n i s ofJq u e s tio n a b le e f fe c tiv e n e s s (th e s e two f a c to r s may c a n c e l each o th e r o u t) . Presumably, th e p h ysician in th e case w ill le a rn th e re s u lts of t h i s s o - c a lle d tre a tm e n t by means o f an o th er la b o ra to ry t e s t s ix months l a t e r . I t i s q u ite obvious t o me t h a t t h i s i s about as f a r as one can get from e ith e r th e h ealin g a r t o r th e p ra c tic e o f in te llig e n t preventive m edicine. I do n o t know w hether D r. G ie s s e l became a member o f th e F o u n d e rs' Group o f th e O ccupational M edicine Branch o f th e American Board o f Preventive M edicine. I f he did not and i f he subsequently ap p lies fo r membership, I w ill su re ly b la c k b a ll him. F ran c e s and I a r e going shopping i n A lbuquerque F rid a y and we w i l l p lu c k Red Jo h n sto n e from th e Super C h ie f t h a t noon. He and I w i l l t r a v e l up t o t h e m eetin g on Sunday and a f t e r t h e m eeting on Monday he w i l l r e t u r n d i r e c t to Los A n g eles. N e ith e r Lem McGee n o r P au l R ic h ard s w i l l b e a b le t o jo in u s . You can b e s u r e , how ever, t h a t y o u r name w i l l f r e q u e n tly b e ta k e n i n v a in o v e r th e week en d . Sincerely yours, / s / Tom T L S /lca . THOMAS L . SHIPMAN, M. D ., H ealth D ivision Leader