Dr. Kenneth W. Smith to Dr. Paul Parrot of the Quebec Ministry of Health on Lung Cancer and Death Certificates (1951)

A one-page letter of February 1, 1951, from Dr. Kenneth W. Smith of Canadian Johns-Manville to Dr. Paul Parrot of the Quebec Ministry of Health. According to the fact, Smith asks whether lung cancer is accepted as a diagnosis on the province's death certificate form, explaining that he is studying how often lung cancers occur among industrial workers exposed to various dusts, and recalls an earlier visit to the Ministry to review its statistics. The copy is almost entirely unreadable apart from the date, the salutation and Smith's signature.

What it shows

The question went to the heart of the Quebec lung cancer study. At the November 1950 meeting that planned it, the group had been told that in Quebec "it is the practice not to list cancer as a cause of death even when it is" (minutes of the Saranac meeting). Parrot had earlier sent J-M figures on tuberculosis deaths in the mining district (Parrot to Soutar, 1949).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

In a letter dated 2/1/51, to Dr. P. Parrot (Quebec Ministry of Health), Dr. Smith inquires whether lung cancer is accepted as a diagnosis on a death certificate form. Dr. Smith indicates he is performing a study of the incidence of pulmonary malignancies among industrial workers exposed to various dusts and refers to an earlier visit to the Ministry of Health to review the statistical information available there.