Leroy U. Gardner to Sumner Simpson Asking to Review the Manheim X-Ray Films (1944)

A one-page letter of January 12, 1944, from Dr. Leroy U. Gardner, director of the Saranac Laboratory, to Sumner Simpson, president of Raybestos-Manhattan. Gathering material for "our monograph on asbestosis," Gardner wanted a section on X-ray appearances in people: "Noone has ever reported a comprehensive survey of serial films taken over a period of years on the same individuals." He had asked Vandiver Brown to let him review the films of Johns-Manville's Manville employees and asked whether Simpson would let him review "those of your group at Manheim" in late February, promising that "no reference to individuals would be made." A handwritten note records Simpson's answer of January 19, 1944.

What it shows

By 1944 Raybestos-Manhattan, like Johns-Manville, had years of chest X-rays of its asbestos workers. Gardner had seen films "with Dr. Lanza and Dr. McConnell" but had never systematically recorded the changes. He saw them as the way to describe how the X-ray shadows of asbestosis develop over time. His exchange with Brown is published as Leroy Gardner and Vandiver Brown on Reviewing J-M Employees' X-Ray Films (1944); Simpson agreed on January 19, 1944, on condition that the company not be named in any publication.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Requests permission to review the x-ray films of RM employees. This would aid in preparing a comprehensive study of the changes in an individual's chest who has been x-rayed over a period of years. The information from this survey will be included in the final report on asbestosis. Informs that J-M is also being requested to grant Saranac Lab approval to review their employees x-rays.

Related documents

• Sumner Simpson to Leroy Gardner on Reviewing Raybestos-Manhattan's Manheim X-Ray Films (1944)
• Leroy U. Gardner to Sumner Simpson Agreeing Not to Name the Employer (1944)
• Vandiver Brown to Sumner Simpson Forwarding Dr. Gardner's Letter of January 6 (1944)
• Leroy Gardner and Vandiver Brown on Reviewing J-M Employees' X-Ray Films (1944)

About this copy

This is document 05425 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.