Dr. George W. Wright to Dr. Robert Murray on the History and Diagnosis of Asbestos Disease (1978)

A five-page letter of February 2, 1978, from Dr. George W. Wright in Denver to Dr. Robert Murray of Robert Murray Associates, London, answering Murray's questionnaire on asbestos disease in the United States. Wright wrote that the earliest published reports of asbestos disease came from England, that animal experiments were under way at Saranac Lake by the late 1920s and early 1930s, "predominantly from the interest of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company," and that "all of the commonly used varieties of asbestos" had been linked to lung fibrosis and lung cancer, with chrysotile, amosite and crocidolite implicated in mesothelioma. He also discussed X-ray reading, lung function tests, and the poor record-keeping on asbestos disease in the industry.

What it shows

Wright, a former Saranac Laboratory physician who testified for Johns-Manville in 1972, mentioned that "Mr. Fenner of Johns-Manville" would try to develop information for J-M. He called the U.S. data "rather meager" and said record-keeping in the industry "has been rather poor," though improving in recent years. He stressed that an exposure history must explore "the occupational, para-occupational and neighborhood exposures."

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Dr. George W. Wright letter to Dr. Robert Murray (Robert Murray Associates, London, England and Medical Advisor to A.Int.A.), 2/2/78. Dr. Wright is responding to Dr. Murray's questions regarding early reports in which asbestos related disease was first described and criteria for diagnosis of asbestos-related disease. Dr. Wright states that the earliest observations of asbestos-related disease were published in England, but he does not know when the earliest observations of asbestos related disease were first published in the U.S. Dr. Wright states that by the late 1920's and early 1930's Saranac Lab was conducting animal experimentation. This study was predominantly initiated by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Dr. Wright states that all of the commonly used varieties of asbestos have been implicated as causing pulmonary fibrosis and bronchogenic cancer. Chrysotile, amosite and crocidolite have been shown to cause mesothelioma. Dr. Wright emphasizes that because of the high incidence of bronchogenic cancer not caused by asbestos exposure, it is very difficult to determine whether an individual's bronchogenic cancer was caused by asbestos exposure without definite clinical evidence of pulmonary fibrosis ascribed to asbestos exposure. Dr. Wright also states that when putting together an exposure history, one must explore the occupational, para-occupational, and neighborhood exposures.

Related documents

• Dr. George W. Wright, Testimony at the Labor Department Hearing on the Asbestos Standard (1972)

About this copy

This is document 837 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-004540 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-004544.