Document zVYJ710wyvQRzN9Z6ZO4kBK3

. < i s. > Yt . . . . . COP Y Hay 10, 1933 Dr , Sidney McCurdy In d u s t r ia l Commission o f Ohio Claims Section Columbus, Ohio Dear Doctor McCurdy:- I th in k you w ill be in t e r e st e d in the fu r t h e r obser vations which we have made on the above claim ant and I r e fe r you to my pr evious le t t e r of March 28th in connection with th is ca s e . I put Mr. m ^ i n d e r study in the lab or ator y sin ce i t was necessary fo r experimental purposes fo r me to determine how i t could be t h a t a man could be excr etin g such la r ge q u a n t it ie s of lead as long as a year a ft e r the cessation of h is exposur e. Our previous studies had led us to b e lie ve t h a t t h is wa3 im possible and the evidence was so str on g in t h is regard t h a t I f e l t fu lly ju s t ifie d in r egar din g Mr .flBBP as a d e lib e r a t e m alin ger er , or on who was being d eceived . Our observa t io ns have solved t h is q u e s t io n . I t is quite: p ossib le t h a t (Btfk had some a ssist a n ce in h is attempted d ecep tion , Thus"far I have not been able to get infor m ation from him on t h is p o in t . However I have d e fin it e ly e st a b lis h e d the fa c t t h a t he was taking lead by mouth. In the period o f a month during which he was under ob ser vation , spending h is days a t the la b o r a t o r y, and r etu r n in g home a t n igh t , we found h is lead excr etion and h is blood lead going through two periods of a lt e r n a t in g in cr ease and d ecr ease. Associated with these periods and pr oper ly timed In r e la t io n s h ip to them were two days on which we e st ab lish e d by analyses of the fe ce s th at he had r eceived huge doses o f lead by mouth* On one of these d a ys, mbre than I|.00 m llligr aBis of lead had been taken in one dose* flPS^ becam e r ath er i l l under these con d ition s and on the la s t occasion showed a pronounced drop in haemoglobin, a sharp diminution In e r yt h r ocyte s, a r ap id in cr ease over a period o f se ve r a l days in the s t ip p le d e r yt h r ocyte s, while a t the same time he developed a considerable co lic a ft e r a b r ie f d iar r h ea, I presented him with the fa ct s and t old him that i f the it u a t io n were to con t in u e, he would ce r t a in ly d ie o f acute encephalopathy. As a matter o f fa c t he did have some mild mental symptoms on on day and he developed a njeure-muscular distur bance which, although fle e t in g , was qu ite d e fin it e . He denied a ll knowledge of any s e lfa d m in ist r a t ion but i t is to be noted with some in t e r e s t , however, t h a t follow in g the shock which my warning 2. gave him, ther e were no episodes of high lead in t a ke . Since th at time the lead fin d in gs and the c lin ic a l fin d in gs have dropped o ff very r a p id ly. My in t e r e s t in t h is case has been q u ite consider able fo r we have been studying lead metabolism under the in flu e n ce of very small r epeated dosages, and t h is experiment which I would not have been w illin g to car r y out m yse lf, has been ca r r ied out fo r me in such a way as to yie ld some very in t e r e s t in g infor m ation* I am s t i l l a t some lo ss to understand why a n egr o, p a r t icu la r ly , would be w illin g to endure pain and illn e s s fo r the sake of compensation, and a period of idleness* never theless the fa c t I s quite clear and I am r ep or tin g i t to you. fo r such use as you may wish to make o f it * The fu r t h e r infor mation ju s t ifie s fu lly my e a r lie r r ep or t to you and my recommendation t h a t t h is man should not r eceive a d d it io n a l compensation fo r occup ation al in ju r y* , ' . Very t r u ly yours, RAKj is Slgn e d s Robert A. Kehoe, M.D* P .S. During the per iod from Ap r il to June 6th which Mr. spent a t t h is la b o r a t o r y, he performed ce r t a in ^ XteSs o f work fo r which he was compensated* Also a portion of h is meals was provided* The t o t a l expense of these items to the labor ator y was $175*00, of which $150.00 was paid to Mr, in cash fo r ser vices r ender ed. RAK*