Document zdmYxpy2e38EVERYXZNjGOyr3

/\+ C , / t - /..,i X ' - -* J a n u a ry 10, 1958 M `/ i ** ** <& '>' ' M r. A. B. W yrick Ethyl C orporation 1141 H untley D rive Eos A ngeles 26, C alifornia D ear W yrick: . Some tim e before C h ristm as I receiv ed an invoice through New Y ork m ade out to Ethyl C orporation, A ttention: M r. A . B. W yrick, for m edical serv ices rendered by Edw ards Civilian M edical C enter,of Edw ards, C alifornia,to em ployees of C u rtiss-W rig h t who w ere "exposed to fuel additive compound containing m anganese. M I approved the bill fo r paym ent, although it was fairly high, since I thought it inadvisable to c reate an uncom fortable issue with C urtiss-W rig h t o r with these physicians who, c erta in ly , a re not a t fault,and who ren d ered th e ir se rv ic e s ap p aren tly in good faith. This is, n ev erth eless a wholly u n satisfacto ry situation, from m y p re se n t view point, and it needs to be put stra ig h t. I have w ritten to D r. Doty about it, and you can expect him to get in touch with you about it. When you and he and Hume C henauit, who presum ably is concerned, have established the facts and reported them to m e, we shall be able to determ ine what should be done. C ertainly the p resen t situation is quite unsatisfactory to m e. These physicians at Edw ards cannot possibly know what they a re about, and I have no idea what they have been told o r who is responsible for th eir activity. # It is best, I think, for m e to state the case, so fa r as I am responsible fo r any action in this direction. Some weeks ago I talked to D r. F rank D egrace of 7/oodridge, New Je rse y , M edical D irecto r of C u rtiss-W rig h t, about the m edical supervision of the people who handle A k-33X . I had been a ssu re d by M r. Ball that Ethyl would provide the n e c e ssa ry indoctrination of the C u rtiss-W rig h t people in the procedures of m ixing this m ateria l with gasoline (or in any other ways of handling it),and th at continuing supervision of the handling operations would be so provided, with the cooperation of Curtiss-^W right su p erv iso ry p erso n n el. In m y opinion, the m en who w ere to do this work should have the sam e type of m edical supervision that is provided fo r p erso n s who handle te tra e th y l lead , but I h e sita te d to im pose th is upon C u rtiss - W right, o r to in tru d e into th e ir m ed ical a c tiv itie s without th e ir full understanding and approval. A ccordingly I telephoned D r. D egrace and raised KE 0018332 M r. A . B. W yrick - {2) - J a n u a ry 10, 1958 the question w hether he and his asso ciates w ished to do this o r w hether they wished u s to attend to th is. I gathered, without having a flat statem ent, and without being c le a r as to ju s t what they would do and how they would do it, that he considered th is to be th e ir own p ro b lem . This is w here I left it, and therefore you can picture m y irritatio n when this bill for outside m edical se rv ic e s w as p re se n te d . If we w ere to look a fte r th ese people, we would do it o u rselv es, and not tu rn it over to som e ill-inform ed physician o r physicians. On the o th er hand, if C urtis a-W right engage th is m edical group to look a fte r th e ir em ployees, I would expect them to pay th e b ill th e m se lv e s. I h e sita te to call D r, D egrace again, fo r I am not acquainted with him - in fact, I never heard of him - and I have no idea of his authority, ability o r professional understanding of this kind of situation. If he has any responsibility fo r th is, it is apparent that he has m isunderstood m e once, and he is likely to do so again. I re g re t now that m y wish to m aintain the pro fessio n al am en ities got m e into th is. It would have been b e tte r had we taken on the job o u rse lv e s, and follow ed through on it in the usual m anner. In any c ase,' I want to know what the C u rtis sW right people a re doing th ere , how this cam e about, who is responsible, m edically, in th eir organization in your a re a , and how this can be straightened out. I sh all ap p reciate your b est efforts to e stab lish the facts with E a rl Doty and Hume Chenault and to p ass them on to m e for appropriate action. With be3t re g a rd s, Sincerely yours. RAK ef C .C . : M r. H. K. Ball D r. K. V. K itzm iller Robert A. Kehoe, M. D. 001S333