Document zdwrkZ9B53zBRV513kDZpRd0B

F V In t e r -Of f ic e Co r r e s po n d e n c e Et h y l Ga s o l i n e Co r p o r a t i o n 25 BROAD W A Y N E W Y o r k January 2, 1929 Dr. R. A. Kehoe, Dear Dr. Kehoe: inclosed is copy of letter from Mr. William H. Hartigan, Chief of the Kansas City Station, Food, Drug and Insecticide Administration, in reference to his brother whom he claims, as you will note, seems to be suffering from the after effects of Red Crown Ethyl Gasoline.poisoning. Naturally all claims of this nature are entitled to our prompt attention, but obviously, from the very nature of Mr. Hartigan's position, it behooves us to immediately do everything we possibly can to ascertain the facts. Also enclosed is copy of letter I am send ing to Mr. Fellingham of the Standard of Indiana, with whom you have been in communication regarding other matters. Kindly note that we are leaving the handling of this subject to you and Mr. Fellingham, with whom I would like to suggest you get in telephone communication in order to avoid the delay consequent upon exchange of correspondence. lours ve: A:H . Copy to Mr. Fellingham -D. : J-' W R IT E PLA IN LY W IT H IN K --T H IS IS A PE R M A N E N T RECORD --Kvery item of information should be carefully supplied. The exact statement of OCCUPATION is very important Physicians should scale DIAGNOSIS in plain terms. See instructions on back of certificate. O H IO D E P A R T M E N T O F H E A L T H ja n . 22, 1951. CERTIFICATE OF INDUSTRIAL OR OCCUPATIONAL DISEAS NAME OF PATIENT. A D D R ESS: S treet and No.,__ ftgQK Ptyrivs __ Cit y or Villa gg ffl flTftl a n d $ DM PERSONAL AND STATISTICAL PARTICULARS Sex Age Color Country of birth M 26 w Single, married, widowed or divorced (write the word) - - '= u .s . ' M arried Occupation (a) Present trade, profession or work. __________ pipe-fittar__ ,_ Particular kind of work in such trade, etc. _______ _ .installing and,,removing-gasnline pumps-, Date of entering present occupation Aprxl1950____ Employer's name R un O i l H o . j ______________ Address____ "__________ Cleveland, Ohio. Business (kind of goods made or work done). 'O p ftr fr H n g rift s t a t i o n s __ (b) Previous occupations: Name of occupation Steam fitter Entered (year) 1922 Left (year) 1950 MEDICAL CERTIFICA TE OF DISEASE Diagnosis of present il gas - paralysis Chief symptoms and conditions. .from ethyl D u ration , D ate first symptoms appeared_MOY. IQ y iS S Q -------------Complicating Diseases (such as alcoholism, syphilis, tuber eulosis, etc.)_____ none---------------------- What in your opinion caused this affliction?exposure to ethyl gas______ Additional facts. Previous illnesses, if any, due to occupation: Disease or illness none Year Date of diagnosis_____ DSC , 19$0_ 33 Z Ind. Hy. 3--15M--5-29 ( Signed)____ S . O . L u i d , M.D. 801 Medical Arts Bldg., 192__ (Address) r ________ Plevelanu.Ohio. Mail to STA TE D IR EC TO R O F H EA LTH , Columbus. For Instruction See Oth er Side Ut CRUSSE. OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ; ' COLUMBUS .i ^ INSTRUCTIONS. FOR FILLING OUT CERTIFICATE Present Occupation.^ Precise statement of occupation is very important so that the relative healthfulness of various pursuits may be known. "It is necessary to know both general trade or profession.... (for example, printer) and also the particular kind of work or branch of the trade (as hand compositor or linotype operator.) . Date of entering present occupation is important to determine how long the worker may have been exposed to the hazard before contracting the disease. 'li'V y 'l,;-: Employer's name, address and business are necessarj' to as certain distribution of occupational diseases by industries, many trades (e. g., machinists) being common to different industries. Previous Occupations need to be known, if possible, because present illness may be due to a former rather than present occu pation. Give simply the name of each distinct occupation which the patient may have followed, with the year he entered and the year he left .... t, ,. . .- , , Previous Illnesses. This refers either to previous attacks of present disease, or to any other disease, due to occupation. All that is required is the name of each such disease or illness with the, year in which it occurred. cj . M edical Certifcate. Only the last two items specified for this: require any explanation. In making these reports it is necessary, to consider the possible influence of factors other than occupation as causes of the disease. For this reason any complicating diseases' should be noted, such, for example, as alcoholism or syphilis in con-' nection with arteriosclerosis in cases of lead or other metal poison ing. The possible effect of other factors, such as poor hygienic condi tions in the home, or other personal conditions, must be considered, and when discoverable should be noted under additional facts. AN ACT--To Require the Reporting of Occupational Diseases--(As amended February 4, 1920) Be it enacted by the General Assembly o f the State of Ohio: ,, ... .. . ' r > *- Report of S e c t io n 1243-1. Every physician in this state attending on or called in to visit a patient whom he believes to be suffering' i occupational diseases by physicians from poisoning from lead, phosphorus, arsenic, brass. Wood alcohol,- mercury or their compounds, or from anthrax or fromcompressed air illness and such other occupational diseases and ailments as the state department o f health shall require to be' reported, shall within forty-eight hours from the time of first attending such gatient .send to; the state commissioner of health a report stating: ,, : W hen and to v.'h o m t o be m ade (a) Name, address and occupation of patient. (b) Name, address and business of employer.-- (c) Nature of disease, (d) Such other information as may be reasonably required by the state department of health. The reports herein required shall he made on, or in conformity with, the standard schedule blanks hereinafter provided for. The mailing o f the report, within the time required, in a stamped envelope addressed to the. office of the state commissioner of, health, shall be a compliance with this section. ~ "......... " ..... ` ........ - \ Blanks for Se c t io n . 1243-2. The state department of health shall prepare and furnish, free of cost, to the physicians included in the report preceding section,, standard schedule blanks for the reports required under this act. The form and contents of such blanks shall be determined iby the state department of health. .. Such reports Se c t io n 1243-3. Reports made under this act shall not be evidence of the facts therein stated in any action arising out of n o t evidence the disease therein'reporied. - " ..... . '. Copy of re port to be transm itted to proper official P e n a lty Se c t io n 1243-4, I t shall furthermore be the duty of the state department of health to transmit a copy of all such reports of occupational disease to the proper official having charge of factory inspection. Se c t io n 1243-5. Whoever being a physician practicing in the state of Ohio, neglects or refuses to make and transmit to the state commissioner of health any report provided for in section. 1243-1 of .the General Code shall be fined not ,to exceed one hundred, dollars or imprisoned for not to exceed ninety days, or both, but no person shall be imprisoned under this section for a first offense afid tjie prosecution shall always be as and for. a first offense unless the affidavit upon which the prosecution is instituted contains the allegation that the offense is a second or repeated offense. NTE--In addition to the diseases or disabilities provided for in Section 1243-1 of the above law, the regulations passed by the Public Health Council on February 27, 1920, provide in Regulation 2 for the reporting of "any disease or disability contracted .as a result of the nature of the' person's employment, including the following diseases or disabilities and not excluding others : Anilin poisoning , : Bisulphide of carbon poisoning Naptha poisoning _ Benzine (gasoline) poisoning - - Carbon monoxide poisoning -- ........ - Natural gas poisoning 1 ' Benzol poisoning Dinitrobenzene-poisoning ......... ....... . .Turpentine poisoning ': r ' : -- " ' --.tT' ' e E.:-:.lEi T iV.'i : a; iisNi ' - - -' :- Smmsxf 2, 1929. IT* Willia H, Hartigan, Chief, Kansas City Station, , Food, Drug and Insecticide -^jssinistration, Kansas City, liissouri. - - .. Dear Sirs ' e have year letter of Docesbsr 28th is refer ence to the condition of year brother, We have sent a copy to Dr. Robert A, Sehoe of the University of Cincinnati, who has stale a special study of lead poisoning and ufao is our Chief Medical Ad visor, sd,th the request .that he shall get in coasunication with yens#'' ' = ., . hi, I as sure that you will juK&ediately hear fro f Appreciating your having brought this natter to our direct attention, fours very truly, President m ASK L / / January 2* 1929, \ icr. Hobart I. FeULinghas, General Attorney, Standard Oil Company (Indiana), 810 S, Michigan venue, c .c,',igo, Illinois ' j^ar Mr. peHinghaas Enclosed is copy of letter ire have received from Mr. Williaa H. Hartlgan, chief of the Kansas City station of the Pood, Drag ad Insecticide Administration, and copy of our reply, and also that of & letter we are sending to Dr. Kehoe. the handling of the situation will be left in the hands of yourself and Dr. Kehoe. Tours very truly, AiH Copy to Dr. lehoe January 3, 1928 Mr. E. W. Webb, Ethyl Gasoline Corp., 25 Broadway, Hew York City. Dear Mr* Webb: In accordance with the suggestion in your letter of January 2 I called up Mr. Feilingham in Chi cago and talked with him about the matter* At his suggestion, with which I agreed, I have written to Mr* Hartlgan In order to open up the case in such a way that we could look into it* X enclose herewith a copy of m y letter. I w i l l follow up the matter and keep you informed* However, I might say that it seems unlikely to me that this will occasion any difficulty* X should not be surprised if my letter settled the matter* Very truly yours, H A K jE J Enel* -wAs-'-v: ' ;.;A p':r` 'VWhl!! fi January 3, 1928 Mr. W m . H. H a r t i g a n , C h i e f , ' :5 -- Kansas City Station, r vr Pood, Drug and Insecticide Administration, Kansas City, M o . Dear Sir: I have h a d referred to me b y the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation your letter of December 28 in regard to the ill ness of your brother. P r o m the h i s t o r y of y o u r b r o t h e r 's Illness w h i c h w a s p r e s e n t e d in.,.your., letter.,, it.,w o u l d s e e m that hi s illness is due, probably, to some cause other than exposure to Et h y l Gasoline. It is true that there is little or nothing in m e d i cal literature on the subject of illnesses arising from Ethyl Gasoline, The reason for this is that cases of injury have apparently not occurred. Co-operating with the United States Public Health Service I and my associates have investigated the condition of men working in garages and filling stations handling Ethyl Gasoline continuously over a period of years. W i t h the exception of a few instances of Irritation to the skin such as occurs in the case of any irritating substance like gasoline, we have been quite unable to find injury resulting from the handling of Ethyl Gasoline. A number of complaints of injury have arisen in various parts of the country which we have made it our business also to investi gate. None of these has given us reason to attribute 111 effects to Ethyl Gasoline over and above such effects as are known to be produced by gasoline. Ordinary gasolines are i r r i t a t i n g to the s k i n arid p r o d u c e d r y i n g an d c r a c k i n g w h i c h Is very frequently followed by skin infection. When a covered portion of the body is wet with gasoline and kept wet, blis tering very commonly results; and when the skin comes away from these blisters infections from the ordinary bacteria of the skin and also from mold-like parasites often result. Fro m the point of view of lead (tetraethyl l e a d ) , wh i c h la the only ingredient of Ethyl Gasoline which would differen tiate it from ordinary gasolines, there has been no indica tion of injury. Furthermore, experimentation with animals and observations on a large number of men give no reason for believing that lead is absorbed in appreciable quantity through the skin out h f Ethyl Gasoline. in view of these facts, which you will be able to have substantiated if you so dsire through the United States Public Halth Service, It would seem very unlikely that a single exposure of o n e 's hands to ^ t h y l Gasoline could give ri s e to a n y c o n s t i t u t i o n a l symptoms. It is n o t surprising that there should have been some skin irritation, and blistering, but it seems likely that such Illness as 'V. V..-.-y'Si y o u r b r o t h e r h a s h a d i n a d d i t i o n to' this m u s t h a v e a r i s e n from some other cause. However, it is our purpose to in vestigate any and all such case? as that of your.brother and I should be very glad to make such arrangements as are possible whereby I or one of my assistants might have an opportunity to examine your brother an d to discuss the case w i t h his ..physicians I should be glad to have you or his physician write me as to h o w and when this may be done. Very truly yours, RAK:EJ TJ tf' 3 2 COPI UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OP AGRICOLTORE Food,Drug, and Insecticide Admini stration Kansas City station 400 Post Office Building Kansas City, Mo. December 28th, 1923. Ethyl Gasoline Corporation, New York, N.X. ;, Gentlemen* After having experience with food infections and food intoxications, I have had an appeal fro ny brother who seems to be suffering from the after effects of poisoning from Red Crown Etiyl Gasoline. About December 20th, 1925> he was- driving a Ford Coupe during a ; cold spell, the car stalled on a hill and he attempted to get it running again by adjusting the carburetor* In this manner his hands became covered with the ethyl gasoline. Not being successful in getting the car to run he put his hands in a pair of woolen mittens and helped push the car to a nearly garage. From there he proceeded home and washed his hands with soap and water. However, about three days later both hands broke out with small blisters, some of the blisters being large enough to appear as burns. He then consulted Dr. Hilen Wallace, St. Joseph, Missouri, and carried out the treatment prescribed by Dr. Wallace. Previous to this infection he enjoyed normal health and during the war was in the United States Navy. Since this accident his health has never been normal. From time to time a rash will break out on diffrait parts of his body and he suffers from stomach and intestinal disturbances indicating hyper acidity. At times the bloating of the stomach causes pressure around the heart. He also has a sensation of hot flashes followed Ty chilly sensations. Both hands at times feel numb and he describes his feelings as though someone had hit him on the crazy bone. He farther suffers from loss of sleep and a nervous condi tion at the time of these attacks, which are of irregular occurrence and irregular in duration. As time slapses there does not seem to be any decrease in the abnormal conditions. The patient has gone thru several X-Ray examinations but this does not develop ary assistance in the diagnosis. The chemical literature which we have in our library does not give any line upon the composition of ethyl lead, nor am I able to find medical literature covering similar cases of poisoning. Therefore I am appealing to yo u for any assistance you may be able to offer to overcome this infection. Will you please give me the names and addresses of any physicians whom you consider authority ou this type of poisoning. Tours respectfully, (Signed) m. H. Hartigan m . H. HARTIGAN, Chief, N8247.06