F. J. Solon Jr. to Dr. Kenneth W. Smith Asking for Records on Cancer Among J-M Workers (1966)

A confidential two-page memo of June 28, 1966, from F. J. Solon Jr. at J-M headquarters to Dr. Kenneth W. Smith, the medical director, copied to J-M president C. B. (Clint) Burnett, H. M. Jackson and W. P. Raines. Solon wrote that in meetings of J-M's Public Health Task Force there had been "numerous verbal references" to cancer rates among J-M asbestos workers being as low as or lower than in the general population, but that "the Task Force has not seen any written or printed reports documenting this claim." At Burnett's request he asked Smith, by July 15, for existing reports on cancer at the Jeffrey Mine and J-M's asbestos plants, a description of the medical records available, and a plan for analyzing them, by an outside medical authority if needed.

What it shows

Solon was frank about the purpose: "this sort of information, if it proves to be favorable from our standpoint, would be a potential counter-balance to Dr. Selikoff's findings" of more lung and other cancers among men exposed to asbestos dust. He pointed to an Owens-Corning study of 1,400 workers as an example of "a strong and convincing piece of evidence in their favor." The memo shows that J-M's repeated assurances of low cancer rates, such as Dr. Smith's, had not been documented, even inside the company. Smith's request to Dr. Leonard Bristol to read the Jeffrey Mine X-rays followed that August (Smith to Bristol, 1966).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Letter from F.J. Solon to K.W. Smith, dated 6/28/66, concerning request by Clint Burnett that information concerning the medical history of J-M employees and former employees relevant to asbestos exposure be examined and documented. "As you know, in the meetings of our Public Health Task Force, there have been numerous verbal references to the fact that the incidence of lung cancer and other forms of cancer among employees at J-M's asbestos mines, mills and asbestos-processing plants has been as low or lower than would be expected among the general population. To date, however, the Task Force has not seen any written or printed reports documenting this claim."