Document rpKQDOZ9EyQrr9jV5wZ79G6x7

ANDRIM R t.tT C H |A ,M ttlO (N r ' K c . S f t O W M t l L .v i C I 'R C JIO IN T J . A . M A R T I N O , ViCC P R (S IO |N T M M Z O U L C R .V IC I l>R(ID(HT ROBER T LINOLCV IIE O FE L O . S(CR|1*AY TRlAtURlR I t n 1 : i : i a 3 nim liccm A-2 0 L E X IN G T O N AV EN U E NEW YORK 17. N.Y. MANFRED BOWOITCH DIRECTOR O F HEALTH AND AFCTY August 8, 1956 Robert A. Kehoe, M.D. Director Kettering Laboratory of Applied Physiology University of Cincinnati Eden Avenue C incinnati 19, Ohio Dear Bob: A few more words on "Arsenic and Old Luce". Trihat le d t o my a lle g e d ly left-handed remarks o f July 19th was not your comment on th e case, which I thought you handled very w e ll, but my c h ild ish pleasure in th e references to "Dr. Kehee." I am hot y e t at lib e r ty to reveal the sources o f my in formation, but I have i t on what I regard as ust about incontro- vertib le authority that, eteologically, the ceilin g paint at V illa Taverna had about as much to do with Mrs# Luce's recent i l l n e s s as does the moon with the common run of psychoses. I am furthermore to ld that the true story w ill u ltim ately be released, and I can only regard the hokum published in the June 23rd issu e of her hus band's magazine as a highly questionable e ffo r t to d isto r t and d issem b le. . / Herewith are cop ies of a l e t t e r and enclosure sent to Dr. Rosenbluth, Mrs. lu c e 's physician, as w ell as of an item from the New York Post o f July 19th. Compare, p lease, what the Washing ton paper o f July 18th says he said , with what th e New York paper of the day follow in g says he sa id . Something i s obviously screwy somewhere. Sincerely, -A Encls. S33 029 1 / LEAD INDUSTRIES A SSOCIA TION 420 Lexington Avenue New York 17, N. Y. July 20, 1956 MANFRED 8 O W O IT C M D I R ECT O * O f H EA L T H A * o SA FCT r Milton B. Rosentolu th , M. D. 75 Bast 55th Street New York 22, New York Dear Dr. Rosenbluth: As has no doubt yours a lso , th is o f f ic e has been beset clippings as a resu lt o f the p u b licity accorded to the Mrs. Luce. h in q u iries and >ur famed p a tien t, Such references as I had seen to your co most favorably, but yesterday came the clipp: Herald o f which a m arginally marked photosta course aware th at misquotations are by no may w ell be one o f them, i t seems worth the b est o f my knowledge, fa c ts : n th e case n ro impressed me Washington rost and Times erew ith. Though I am of in th e d a ily p ress, and th i: but th at the follow ing are, tc 1 . Lead i s a common ingre .2 Arsenic has been used pigment in certain pa: d to a lim ited extent, as a 3 . Arsenic occurs today paints for shiro^battoms, as an ingredient o f a n ti-fo u lin g as copper arsenate. i*. Other s t a known by contrary, lead arsenate has never been paints o f any d escrip tion . KLease do not N&terpret t h is le t t e r as in any sense an unfriendly c r itic ism . As I said , i t i s not ibaJik e lv ^ neft you were misquoted, and in any ca se, my so le pur pose i s to seek to correb t~ eof the many misconceptions r e la tiv e t o the e tio lo g y oJ m etal poisonings with which I am obliged to deal in th e course o f my d a ily a c tiv itie s Since t h is i s a fr e e country and we are a l l e n title d to our own opinions, mini i s th at whatever arsenic may have been found in the specimens sent t o Bethesda came from a source other than th e paint o f the bedroom c e ilin g . I would welcome any comment on the above th a t you may deem appropriate. MB:GW Enclosure Sincerely yours, CV^h> 02 918 tins) THE WASHINGTON POST and TIMES HERALD * * * VTednesday, J u l y 8, 1 9 5 6 O Mrs. Luce Planning Return to Rome; Experts Doubt Paint as Poison Source Clare Boothe Luce soon will spokesman added, usually in have done a great deal of work return to her Ambassadors post in Rome and the 17th Cen tury Italian villa where falling volve l e a d poisoning, not arsenic. ---- Exterior white paint, he ex plained, often contains lead at her desk in the bedroom in addition to using it as a sleep* ing chamber. specks of paint are blamed for dioxide. If someone used this by A previous occupant, Ella- her recent siege of lead arse mistake to paint furniture, a worth Bunker, Ambasador to nate poisoning. The lady diplomat will return from medical treatment in the United States around Aug. 15 to find the white roses on her ornate bedroom ceiling covered up with heavy tarpaper redone m non-leaded paint. Lincoln White, press officer for the State Department, offi cially confirmed yesterday that Mrs. Luce has been a victim of arsenic poisoning. "The fact that the paint had arsenic in it is purely an ac cident,'* he emphasized with diplomatic firmness, "and there is absolutely no indication that it was otherwise." The secret of Mrs. Luce's ill ness turned into the case of poisoned diplomat and read at first like cloak-and-dagger fic tion with overtones of a Borgian poison plot Central In telligence A g e n c y officials finally traced the culprit to the white-painted roses on the ornate ceiling in Mrs. Luce's child might chew on the paint and be poisoned. Battley pointed an accusing finger at arsenic trioxide agri cultural sprays which he said might have been used against house insects or rodents at the Villa Taverna, the American Ambassador's official residence on the outskirts of Rome. A National Institutes of Health paint toxicologist did not absolve the white-painted roses on the ceiling as the cul p rit Old paint from the pre vious century, he said, could have flecked off with the new coats and dropped down on Mrs. Luce's food. Lead arse nate, he said, once was used in a type of whitewash paint. He also had another solution for the mystery: Arsenic might have been added to a casein paiqt, made from a milk derivative, to ward off insects attracted by the sweet mixture. Mrs. Luce was reported to Italy in 1952 and 1953, appar ently used the same room but did not suffer any ill effects. "My wife does recall the paint did fleck* off some," Bunker said last night just after a re turn from five weeks in Europe as president of the American Red Cross. "But it didn't seem to bother me. Of course, 1 was only there for a year." After consulting with his wife, Bunker said the ceiling was probably green and white when they occupied the bed room. The suspect ceiling in Mrs. Luce's chamber has been described as green with white rosettes. Mrs. Luce returned suddenly to the United States last May with an explanation that she was tired and suffering from overwork. Time Magazine, which her husband heads as editor-in-chief, broke the story of the paint poisoning which it. called "one of the best kept secrets of U. S. diplomacy." bedroom. A deadly fallout of lead arsenate slowly poisoned ' the Ambassador as she worked and slept they reasoned. But an aura of mystery still remained yesterday, although nothing of plots and foreign intrigue was suggested. Mrs. Luce's personal physi cian, Dr. Milton B. Rosenbluth, told the International News Service in New York City there was "nothing sinister" in the lead arsenate poisoning. "It was just a case of old paint," he said. "Lead arsenate is in all old paints." - But a spokesman for the United States paint industry came to the defense of the white-painted roses. Joseph F. Battley, president |of the National Paint, Varnish, and Lacquer Association, ad vised the investigators to seek "other sources of arsenic than paint." He questioned whether 'paint dust could contain enough arsenic to poisen Mrs. Luce's cup of coffee and food for over 20 months. Earlier, a technical adviser for the Association said he had never heard of a case of arsenic poisoning from paint. American paint manufacturers, Battley said, do not use any arsenic compounds in the manufacture of paints. Paint poisonings, a n ?9 te* NEW YORK, N. Y., POST Cire. D. 311.466 -S. 270.024 Clare Luce's Doct or Sees No Poison Link to Il Washington, July 19 <AP>-- months ago were enteritis and by telephone in New York. in Rome. Ishe Ambassador Clare Boothe Luce's iron defliciency anemia. ' Time Magazine reported Tues "For 20 months," it said, "Am- "S physician said today her latest Their relation-- it any-- to day "a deadly fallout' of the pois bassador Luce had been breath-;was illness might have had no connec traces of arsenate of lead detect on caused the long series of 111 ing arsenejed fumes, had been Ti tion whatever with poison paint ed in a specimen is "very un nesses that have beset Mrs. Luce eating food and drinking coffee diate specks which allegedly dropped clear," he said, because the sus since sh<f became Ambassador to powdered.day after day with the blut from her bedroom ceiling. pected ceiling of her Rome em Italy more than three years ago. deadly white dust." Dr. Milton Rosenbluth said the bassy bedroom had been covered T h e Ambassador's husband, Dr. Rosenbluth said it was far ailments tor which he treated and repainted 13 months earlier. Henry R. Luce, is editor in chid from certain her latest illnesses Mrs. Luce in New York lwo> Dr. Rosenbluth was interviewed of the publication. were "arsenic induced infection," The magazine said a second in as the magazine reported. vestigation uncovered "a high "Whatever she had In 1954 I content" of arsenate of lead from would regnrd as cured," he said. paipted roses in the ceiling of her "Her latest Illness seemed to be 17th century embassay residence related to some liver Infection O ro vo to o /