Document nmZvjBB55R0XO70X8L9yLXM8m

FILE NAME Corning OC DATE 1956 Feb 24 DOC OC235 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Letter RE the Situation of Scheper's Articles HAROLD BOESCHENSTEIN 2/24/56 2/24/56 Dear Beck login sy ry After talking yesterday with John Black Marsh Burch and Bill har put down the following suggestions Hazard I heat Host of them were pretty much off the top of my with you For what discussed yesterday Burch may have covered the want me to help I'm tlhiekye may be worth in this form here they are If you _ a firehorse waiting to get out of the station The situation created by publication of such steps as the following be taken Schepers articles suggests that 1. Prepare a memorandum for salesmen in a lay language to give them story to tell woe the problem is thrown at them in the field This would develop the thought that Schepers findings apply only to the most unusual conditions and have to do only with extremely fine fibers not in commercial production This should be_drafted by Messrs Black and Burch with the assistance of Dr. Bishop 2. Take the draft to Dr. Schepers and get his agreement that it accurately interprets his findings This concurrence might be either a hand notation on the draft or a letter stating his acquiescence in the statement as a reasonable interpretation for laymen of the findings set forth in his articles This might be useful should it ever be necessary to rebut him as an expert witness 3. _ Pin down the chronology in such a way as to throw doubt authenticity of Schepers findings as they relate to on the Gardner's earlier work Gardner never published a fully documented report about his inhalation experiments but in his 1941 report as Director of the Trudeau Foundation he stated that his experiments at Saranac had demonstrated that exposure to the dust of glass wool involved no hazard to the lungs because this Fiberglas material was not inhalable This language is unqualified by weasel modifiers or weakening words Gardner said demonstrated not indicated In an interim report earlier he qualified demonstrated with apparently Until Schepers got into the act Gardner's findings have been accepted without equivocation by public health authorities industrial hygienists insurance actuaries et al as authoritative In sense Schepers is the memory of Dr. Gardner by exhuming from his files cf, desecrating would have completed ten years mortem data that Dr. Gardner certainly "-& brought to our attention had he regarded it as being of sufficient importance to modify the conclusions that he had reported to us as definitive The year inhalation experiments were died in in 1941. Dr. Gardner 1946. In 1956 Schepers comes forth with this blast to cast doubt on the integrity of Gardner's work 4. e? Act a of Probe for evidence that publication the articles by Schepers may be a breach of faith The files may no longer be available to show whether a formal contract was executed or whether Dr. Gardner undertook the work in the late 30's on the basis of a letter agrement It is likely that there was an understanding of some nature that reports on the experiments would not be published without prior consent My recollection is that this was a way street We were careful not - Act to quote Gardner without his consent it is reasonable to suppose that Saranac was under a similar obligation not to publish without cut consent . Obviously Schepers articles cannot be expunged from the record now But this point if established satisfactorily might help persuade Schepers to acquiesce in the layman's version suggested above 5. Reactivate the medical advertising program along the pattern followed in the late 40's and early 50's This was a modest program I think we had six insertions a year each in JAMA and in MODERN MEDICINE By alternating the insertions we had one ad each month This was a low- budget program Its range objective was to provide a continuing framework of reference to familiarize physicians with Fiberglas products There is sufficient mention in medical literature to permit this progra to be carried on effectively More can be developed Schepers articles do not alter the fact that Fiberglas products are described elsewhere in medical literature as nontoxic nonallergenic nonirritating etc. Lest such a campaign would seem to be protesting too much it should be handled by an agency qualified to sidestep the many pitfalls that beset my campaign aimed at the medical profession 6. Employ or assign a qualified competent industrial hygienist full to pull toget the whole program 7. Sponsor a new investigation at an institution other than Saranac to develop new findings to update and parallel those reported by Schepers Be sure that this institution has unassailable integrity This may take at least four or five years and a good many thousands of dollars but it is basic and essential 8. Appraise the present standing of the Saranac Laboratories by developing outside information to determine whether Schepers is indulging in gentcel blackmail To find out for example whether Saranac's business is slipping and whether he resorts to alamist tactics to sell the Laboratory's services Gather such information on a confidential basis perhaps through Bowditch via Hazard as a weapon in reserve bs . s ee a4 Study health record compiled by Fiberglas employees in Newark This to should be set up as a project be supervisebdy an outside industrial may hygienist consultant It involve an extensive chest ray program study of sick absenteeism and correlation of such with insurance claims_experience claims_experience workers compensation cases etc. Such evidence is empirical but if the data are studied and correlated and interpreted by an independent industrial hygienist of reputation they could be extremely useful and significant in many situations