Dr. Leroy U. Gardner to Sumner Simpson Reviewing Dr. Shull's Asbestosis Article (1936)

A two-page letter of December 24, 1936, from Dr. Leroy U. Gardner, director of the Saranac Laboratory, to Sumner Simpson, president of Raybestos-Manhattan, giving his view of Dr. J. Rush Shull's article "Asbestosis: A Roentgenologic Review of 71 Cases." Gardner felt "the evidence was insufficient to warrant all of the conclusions which were drawn": the work histories might leave out exposure elsewhere, several of the mild cases had "little real asbestosis," and Shull had not shown that asbestosis does not predispose to tuberculosis or is not progressive. But "There were unquestionably some cases of true asbestosis in the series," and he admitted that he, and "many good roentgenologists," would miss most of the early cases "unless we had been told that the subjects had worked in asbestos plants."

What it shows

The letter shows how Leroy Gardner read the medical evidence at the moment the industry began paying for his asbestos experiments. He doubted Shull's conclusions in both directions: Shull may have over-read some X-rays, but his finding that asbestosis does not lead to tuberculosis was also unproved, and Gardner suspected infection was present "in most advanced cases." He ended: "This paper and others which have been published from time to time make it obvious that our standards for the diagnosis of asbestosis are not sufficiently defined," and hoped "the research which we are about to undertake with your assistance will clarify the situation." Simpson sent copies to Vandiver Brown (December 29), to George S. Fabel of Southern Asbestos (the same day) and to E. H. Jeffords at Charleston.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's attorneys indexed the Sumner Simpson Papers. Their index describes this document as follows:

Review of Shull's paper "Asbestosis: A Roentgenologic Review of 71 Cases." Opinion that evidence insufficient to warrant conclusions drawn. Occupational histories incomplete. Possible workers exposed to asbestos in other plants or to other dusts. Knowing workers were exposed to asbestos could result in noting appearances otherwise disregarded. Study didn't prove asbestosis does not predispose to tuberculosis. Paper shows standards for diagnosis of asbestosis not well defined.

Related documents

• Sumner Simpson to Dr. Leroy U. Gardner Asking His Comments on Dr. Shull's Asbestosis Article (1936)
• George S. Fabel of Southern Asbestos to Sumner Simpson Sending Dr. Shull's Asbestosis Article (1936)
• Sumner Simpson to Vandiver Brown Enclosing Dr. Gardner's Review of the Shull Article (1936)
• Sumner Simpson to George S. Fabel Enclosing Dr. Gardner's Review of the Shull Article (1936)

About this copy

This is document 03129-03130 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.