Kenneth W. Smith to L. Hemerda on Arthur Freed's Tissue Findings (1963)

A one-page confidential memo of October 1963 from Dr. Kenneth W. Smith, J-M's medical director, to L. Hemerda at the Manville plant, copied to C. H. Grote, about Arthur Freed. Tissue from Freed had been sent to a Dr. Gross in Pittsburgh, who "after countless hours of painstaking search" found no asbestos bodies or asbestotic fibrosis. Smith called this "quite strange," since Freed had worked in the Textile Department for about 26 years, asked for "a meticulous work history," and wrote: "It does not seem possible that a man could work for that length of time in our Textile Department without some evidence of asbestosis."

What it shows

Smith took it for granted that long work in J-M's textile department would leave signs of asbestosis, so when the pathologist found none he asked for the man's work record to be checked. A handwritten note shows Hemerda returned a revised work history on October 14, 1963.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

K.W. Smith writes to L. Hemerda on 10/7/63 regarding an employee who worked in textiles for 26 years. Smith states that Dr. Gross found no evidence of asbestos bodies or asbestos fibrosis in the worker's tissue. Smith states: "It does not seem possible that a man could work for that length of time in our Textile Department without some evidence of asbestosis."