Asbestos Information Association Minutes on the Enterline Literature Study and Legal Defense (1977)

A single page, page 3, of undated minutes of the Asbestos Information Association/North America, marked as a plaintiff's exhibit. It reported on EPA and Consumer Product Safety Commission rules on asbestos, the cost of an outside regulation study, and the "Legal-Medical Research Program": Dr. Philip Enterline's review of the medical literature on asbestos, lung cancer and mesothelioma, checked by Dr. Ian Higgins of the University of Michigan, was finished and had been "forwarded to Special Counsel for analysis of usage in medical state of the art legal defense mechanism." The executive director was authorized to pay Higgins $2,000.

What it shows

The page shows the industry's trade association paying for a review of the medical literature and sending it to its lawyers for use in the state of the art defense, the argument that the industry could not have known of the hazards earlier. An earlier report on the program is the Executive Committee's 1976 minutes, and Enterline's own report on the review is his 1977 letter to Guy Gabrielson.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's legal department indexed the Motley 1,000 in 1984. Its index describes this document as follows:

Page 3 of undated (circa 10/77) AIA Minutes which states that "Dr. Enterline's research of medical literature on asbestos and lung cancer and mesothelioma and a review of his work by Dr. Ian Higgins of the University of Michigan has been completed. The study has been forwarded to Special Counsel for analysis of usage in the medical state of the art legal defense mechanism." Also discusses certain asbestos-related consumer product safety rules.

About this copy

This is document 684 of the Motley 1,000, from the set the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust's records facility certified as true copies, pages CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002395 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002395.