Tobacco Documents Online

00353190~~I. Polntb of Agreeinent' "` In all'the major studies Implicating cigaret3 is a health hazard, researchers havs general- ly agreed that: The degree of danger increases i":with the number of oigarets smoked per day; 'stop,ping, smoking, even in litter life, can sig- `-iniYicantly reduce the hazard; smoking pipes land' cigars, provided the smoke Isn't inhaled, ''is far safer than smoking cigarets, in which the smoke normally is inhaled. `-'1'f-ie `evTdence aga2ns amo mg 1ias led to ' eome governmental action In Europe. In Great Britain, for example;, the widely, pub- licized report of the Royal College, of Physi- cians prompted a government educational campaign aimed at youngsters and an agree- ; ment with tobacco makers to restrict ariveriis- g•. •. . Officials in theiU.S. have been more cau- tKous. The largest medical group here, the 187,000+member American Medical Association, •t hasn't taken a-public posit2on in the contro- versy. At its annuali meeting, last July, howr- eoer;, the association authoriaed' a study by unbiased scientisi smokingandihealth. The first report is expected, in mid-1963. _'. The U.S. Public Health Service also hass launched a similar "comprehensive revdew" of the evidence. In 1959, the Surgeon General said the "weight of' evidence"' suggests a link betwden smoking and lung cancer. - The committee conducting the study for the Government met,two days last week and yes• terday Surgeon Generali Luther Terry said itt will be six to eight. months before the group completes its report. The Health Service said committee mem- bers at their organizational' meeting agreed on, :'an extensive review of the scientific literatur+e. ~ and' basie studies on all aspects of, the use of .-toba!cco and smoking habzts,-a~ well as pmssible eontributing, factors snch as air pollution, in+. dustrial exposure, radiation and alcohol." Dr.. Terry said the report will dt•aw on data on j, Americans and reporrts from,other nations: 1, Lung cancer deaths have clirnbed Inirecent `'years: It is by far the leading single cancer killer among mcn„ accnunting for 41,000 deati a,year. The death rate is 10 times the rate of a decade ago, according to the American Can+ cer Society. It is difficult to diagnose and only about S~Jo of the cases have been cured. AAIDY 1QEWS New York, New York November 10, 1962 1 ., r. t 3{t~4'e ~;~f±l ,.. L. Cig CoAeaed : In Canc~rTriai Pittsbyrgh, Nov. 9 (UPi).-A Federall Court jury today absolved the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. of blame for the lung cancer con- tracted by a Pittsburgh, carpenter who saidl he got the disease fromm smoking, Chest'erfieid' cigarets. The panel of eight women and four men deliberated' 11 hours before reaching, a decision in the court' of Judge John,Iy. Miller. The $1,250,000 damage suit against the firm was brought by Ottoi Pritahard~ 64. The test case was Pritchard's second againat the company. Earlier, Judge Miller had dis- missed Pritchard's suit for $1 -million in punitive damages. The case continued with a request for $250,000 compensatory damage. Pritchard, who underwent sur- gery in 1953 ' for removal pf his right lung, was not in the court- room when the verdict was an+ nounced. His original suit against the company.in 1960 1ended in a directed verdict of' acquittall I3le was granted a new trial by the 3d Circuit Court of Appeals. . i k rp , r r :1+ , w ~

t ~ tSThe favorable verdict in the Otto Pritchard - Liggett & , Wers sui't was carried. ° ower AP and UPI w3res and rePorted' in many news papers. Pittsburgh area papers = s ve i~tll cover e while the wire services sent re rts thro ~ ,~;, ; 68 a8 T~o nighout the natio n. iHere are some selected stories from the trial coverage. ~- ' NAZS. STREET JOURNAL '; November 12, 1962 ... . , .. . . . . w . ~f. , . . . _. .. . . .. " that some ocrsons who have never smoked ' Zgarel-S Con l.ri'lluteato l Iil.l-ns LI'!,ngCancer Defendcrs of' cigaret smoking generally notP r ¢t+f :ry,'2 4 ~. ",j • .• 9 °Unknown Fartnr Involved i -:'; 'ut Lig gett l.X.111yers _Not LI:aWle ury developi lung cancer: One study, for 1xample, ~ ~ J J, turned ttp lung cancer cases antong Catholie ' ~ l A}vALiiSn'aseaJoUx.AL.ve,esrtnuordi,p '"'.the t,obacco industry Sources in the Industry factor other than smoking: Ifl so, there is a~l ~__ --- nuns. The resultme aretunent IN that at ea:at -. 4 ~ r, ,i 1 ., ,. mr. rracnara s su,t was oemg watcnea in some luna 6ancer is caused by an, unknown `,,~ A.P'ed'eral disGrict'.eourt jury ruled Chester said112 to 15 similar cases are pending, in the possibility all lung cancer ultimately will be .! Th ' court fe d ' ' s: ere was some ar a amage at.vard linked to this cause that has eluded seient Ist's, ' tleld cigarets contributed to lung cancer of a for Mr P itch ld h d l d ti , r ar wou ave e a a rash ot . thus far. ' Pitt'sburgh man. But the panel absolved the cigaret maker, Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co,, additional damage suits. Although this was The anticigaret scientists assert statistical ', thi d' l ' ' e ~ e r ung cancer case put befor of' negligence in the case and dismissed a a, jury evidence is too great to be mere eoincidence: i i t nee c gare s and lung, caneer wene first pub= Amvng the most famous studies have been x" claim for damages against the concern. a lickly linked ih 1932, no tobacco concern hadl The decision was reached in Pittsburghh in ones by Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond and Dr. a $213,000 damage suit against L,iggett &, yet paid-damages as a result' of_such sufts., Daniel Horn of the American Cancer Society. , Myers; Otto Pritchard, a 64-year-old carpen- Mr. Pritchard first sued the company, •in • Their studies followed death rates of' nearly ter, contended smoking Chesterfield cigarets 1954 but lost a decision when Judge John L4188,000 ~ American men during, the 1950s, com- ' caused! cancer in his right lung, which was re- ftilYller...slirected a verdict in favor of the eo1n4 paring smokers and nonsmokers. They found j . moved by surgery in 1953. He also saidlhe was panN. The judge said he believed inautficienl a steadily increasing death rate from lung misled by company ,arjvertising into beAeving, ' evidence had been presented' on Mr. cancer as i per-day_ cigaret _ consumptiion ln, •- ~ the eigarets were harmless. I'riUchard ~ behalf. Mr. Pritchard was granted:,,1eased. For example; a man smoking 18 cig; The jury of' eight women and four men, a' new trial last year by the Federal Court of arets, a day had 10 t'imes, the chance of lung deliberated 1'1i hours, after a six-week retrial. Appeals Ini Philadelphia. The appeals court ctancer as a ndnsmukerl. At 25 cigarets a fiay.. Jurors held Mr. Pritehard' assumed a risk of said evidence could, have led the jury to be~ the risk was nearly 20 times, as great as in injury by smoking Chesterfields. And they said lieve Mr•. Pritchard, and that a decision should the nonsmoker. 1<.oughly the same results Liggett' & Myers gave no expressed' warranties reyt wit0+ the jury and not the judge. t came from two other studies, one by British upon which he relied, or which induced him IN`lt•• Pritchard originally sought damages ol doctors and the other a study of' American to buy the cigarets. E1,250,000 against_Liggett & Myers. But in his ex-service men. F.., Mr. Pritchard's lawyer, James P: McArdle, chau•ge to the jury last week, Judge Millet! . These studies of large populations also found • aaid, a decision on an appeal hadn't yet been didn't mention the plaintiff's $1 miilion puni-' that cigaret smokers were more likely to have made. At the same time, he expressed' pieas- tive damage claim. Court sources said the s: number of other diseases, including chronic; ure that "Ive have established for the world that smoking is a cause of cancer." This view, -however, is disputed by some scientists. " In New York, a I.iggett & Myers spokesman i declared, "The plaintiff's case was without merit and we welcome the finding, of the jury." In, Pittsburgh+ William Eckert, co+counsel for 'the company, hailed the verdict' as a°great demonstration, of the, good sense and Integri- ty" of American juries. He declined comment' on the ruling dhesterfields contributed to lung .cancer. ]udge had granted' a defense motiori to dis- bronchitis and coronary heart;dtsease. ._ miss this claim because evidence didn't indi.In an attempt to buttress these studies: eate the company was guilty of wilful negti- medical scientists recently began microscopic gence. Mr. Pritciiard' wak seeking $213;000 lung tissue studies of' people who died of varii damages for loss of ifscome; impairment' of' ous causes. Dr. Oscar Auerbach and others future income and medical expenses. Scientific Controversy at' the Veterans Administration Hospital, East' Orange, N:J.,; studied nearly 30,000, sections of ` lung tissue of 83 men who died' of causes other " The jury's verdtct' probably will do little than, lung caneer` and 34 men who were lung ~ to resolve the scientific controversy" sM•irling',' cancer itieUime: '-Thiey found a distinct rela- ~t around cigaret smoking. But it undoubtedly tionship between amouni of eigaret smoking, '" will focus public attention on the medical evi- and the microscopic *changes in Ghe lung, that °' dence turned up to date. .. : ~ suggest ehroni c irritationl Whether these irri. '~ , Tobacco 9tbeks React What Is the case against cigaret smoking?! tations are an early'sta$e of cancer is disputed. I `' The Pacific Coast Stock Exchange Was still open when the verdict was announced Friday. Trading was moderate, but some tobacco is- sues increasedi from their New York closings. American Tobacco Co. closed at $29:50 a share, up 75! cents a share from, its close on - the New York Stock Exchange. Pt: J. Reynolds ' To many oancer scientists and some other Tobacco Co+ closed at =42:875' a share, against researchers• the results of statisticnl and lab-,' =41,25 in New York. P. Lorillard Co. closed uralorv sfita;iec are so conclusive as to ha at $42.50, the same aa its New York close. hewmd de.tias,•. Sit.vs the American Cancer Sa- There were nol transac,tlons on the Pacific •ciety. "Many sWdies reported in recent years;' Coast ExehangeinLiggett& Myers shares: Orr indicate beyond reasonable doubt that cigaret' the New York $tock Exchange, Liggett & smoking is thP majpr cause of the unprece~ 1Viyers shares, trading ex-dividend, closed at , dented increase in lung cancer." This view $68.75, off 25 cents. It rests prtmartly upon two ktnds of evidenl - In, another studh by Dr. Auerbach and Dr• .~ One is statistical and compares death, rates! Hammond, liing,ti4que was studied in 2!t2'people and causes among, cigaret smokers andi non-i ;vho died of' various cauqPs. In these cases, smokers. The other is pathological, and in-~ seeking to pin down the link between smoking volves microscopic study of lung tissue in., and heart disease, it was found' that clgaret smokers and nonsmokers. smokers sustained more damage to air sacs ' has been -:ulrlnu:tod by the U.S. Public Health Service; thf, Royal College of Physicians in 'Great Britain anfi, other private and public -igenciies. ' On the other hand, tobacco industry sci- entists anci sronrr. doctors contend just as vigor- nu:sly Ohat pnfof of' a casual relationship bei tweeni ci; anets and lung, or heart disease is lacking. They say statistics showing a, coinci, dence betwr„n smoking and disease don't The verdict in the Liggett &Myers case appeared siit;tiar to a 1900 ruling in which a Miami; FlaL, jury rulled a, lung cancer victim had died' as a result of' smoking cigarets, but refused to hold American Tobacco Co. liable. In another lung cancer case, a jury ruled'in favor of 1'~.iggett & Myers and R. J. Reynolds. This case was appealed, but the court hasn't yet ruled. • prove that a;u, causes the other. and' blood vcssels of the lung: They concluded::•;; that the dama;e was greaU enough tb increase '. the burden on the " eart and account for the ' greater number ot coronary deaths among `' smokers than among nonsmokers. f