Document gaOpw0EqMLKzXVErx10MBwGgN

.HE MEDICAL CENTER Ch a e l e s A.; Do a n , M .D . Director DEPARTMENT OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE W il l ia m F. As k s , M.D. TH E OH IO S TATE UNIVERSITY N o v i c e G . F a w c e t t , Presid en t COLUMBUS 10 November 1, 193>7 Dr. Robert A. Kehoe Kettering Laboratory Eden & Bethesda Cincinnati 19, Ohio Dean Bob: Thanks for your letter of October 29* You may be assured that we will not use any ALCOA data in ary publication or make reference to any unpublished data which might be construed as referring to ALCOA during your active life, until and unless you give your approval. I accept as one of the unpleasant facts of life of the moment that one wont get into some industries if he doesn't abide by these rules, I dont accept the idea that the doctor-patient relationship is of such nature that it prohibits the clinician from reporting his collective experience without permission of the patient. He has that right provided only that he does, not identify the patient to the public. The whole of m o d e m clinical in vestigation is based on=that right. You, I or any other clinician can report our experiences with 100 cardiacs, lung cancers, silicotics or fluorosis of the bone anytime we want to and no court will force us to divulge names, ad dresses and place of employment of our cases. I made the agreement I did in the first paragraph of this letter be cause of my affection and respect for you personally, not because I believe ALCOA or any other company has the right to control the publication of my accumulated clinical experience. I, like you, may have to live with it as a fact of life, but not as a basic right. If there be a sin involved, the bigger sin, is to fail to report new knowledge. Any notion that one has to suppress new knowledge to get the right to accumulate it in industry, cannot in my opinion be a sound philosophy for the long pull. Hope to see you in Cleveland. Sincerely vours. WFA: nib William F. Ashe, M.D., Chairman Department of Preventive Medicine HE 0013747