J. H. Marsh, Asbestos Related Diseases (1975)

A two-page paper by J. H. Marsh of Raybestos-Manhattan, dated August 8, 1975, headed "Asbestos Related Diseases." It names four recognized diseases: asbestosis, which "can be disabling and fatal"; bronchogenic cancer, where "recent studies by Selikoff and others indicate the excess may be among only those asbestos workers who smoke cigarettes"; mesothelioma; and gastrointestinal cancer. A second part lists the "first published reports": Merewether's 1930 report on asbestosis, Merewether's 1949 report on asbestosis and lung cancer, and Wagner, Sleggs and Marchand's 1960 paper on mesothelioma in the Cape Province.

What it shows

The paper reads as a company reference sheet on when each disease was first reported in print. It dates the published link between asbestos and lung cancer to 1949 and mesothelioma to 1960, and says the gastrointestinal link is "difficult to pinpoint" (Newhouse 1969, McDonald 1971, Selikoff 1972). Such dates were central to what manufacturers could be said to have known, and when.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Two-page document entitled "Asbestos Related Diseases," authored by J. H. Marsh, dated 8/8/75.

Duplicate of Motley Document #636.

About this copy

These are documents 636 and 686 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-002201 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002202.