Asbestos Textile Institute Air Hygiene Committee Minutes on Autopsy and Heart Studies (1954)

A two-page report of the Asbestos Textile Institute's Air Hygiene Committee meeting of December 1, 1954, signed by H. M. Jackson of Johns-Manville. It urged member companies to join two programs approved in principle by the Board of Governors: Dr. P. A. Theodos's study of heart disability and asbestosis, and autopsy studies by Dr. Gerrit W. Schepers. Because the usual case would be "an actual or potential compensation claim," the results "would assist in establishing and limiting the extent of workmen's compensation liability." The report added that "Asbestos as a cancer-producing agent is receiving international attention," and that a research proposal from Dr. Schepers on asbestos and lung cancer was expected.

What it shows

The report cited a speech by Dr. W. C. Hueper of the National Cancer Institute, in which "almost all of the slides used to demonstrate pulmonary cancer were of cases involving both asbestosis and cancer," and called the subject "of considerable importance to the Institute members." Each company was to pay for its own cases and let its company doctor arrange the studies. The document shows the textile companies, by late 1954, aware of growing concern about asbestos and cancer, and planning medical studies of their workers' cases with an eye to workers' compensation claims.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

ATI Meeting Minutes, 12/1/54 - Air Hygiene Committee. Autopsy studies undertaken by Dr. Gerrit W. Schepers (Director, Saranac Lab) with the Board of Governors' approval are discussed. Results of Dr. Schepers' studies would assist in establishing and limiting extent of members' workers' compensation liability. States that asbestos as a cancer-producing agent is receiving international attention.

About this copy

This is document 43 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-000539 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-000542.