Dr. R. M. Liss to J. Parks on "New" Occupational Disease Cases at the Manville Plant (1975)

A confidential one-page memo of February 19, 1975, from Dr. R. M. Liss, a J-M physician at the Manville, New Jersey plant, to J. Parks (copies to R. F. Henry, Dr. Paul Kotin and file), headed "'New' O.D. Cases." Liss answers a story, said to have passed from W. L. VanDerbeek through others, that the plant was "hiding over 200 O.D. cases at Manville." He gives new occupational disease cases as an average of 19.7 a year in 1960–69 and 6.8 a year in 1970–74, and lists the cases of 1973 and 1974. "Each employee, however, is apprised of his status at each Periodic Physical Exam. When we are uncertain, we tell the employee so."

What it shows

Liss writes that most of these cases "had questionable changes for a period of time before we were able to place a definite label on them," and that a proper X-ray study would place their first changes in earlier years, "as we are always smarter retrospectively than prospectively in medicine." He asks to find where the story began, and suggests it came from a recent conversation with Reitze, Chase and Sheckler. Later that year Reitze sent J-M's legal staff the plant's full list of pneumoconiosis cases back to 1932 (Reitze to Parker, November 1975).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

Memorandum from R.M. Liss, M.D., to John Parks (Employee Relations), dated 2/19/75 regarding "New OD Cases." Liss was responding to a rumor (attributed to Vanderbeek) that the Manville plant was "hiding over 200 OD cases." Liss reports that between 1960 and 1969, the plant averaged 20 new cases per year whereas, between 1970 and 1974, it averaged fewer than 7 new cases per year.

Liss points out that "most of these cases had questionable changes for a period of time before we were able to place a definite label on them. If and when a proper radiographic epidemiological study is made, their first x-ray change will appear in early years, as we are always smarter retrospectively than prospectively in medicine. Each employee, however, is apprised of his status at each Periodic Physical Exam. When we are uncertain, we tell the employee so. Liss is quite obviously upset by the rumor and closes by saying "I would still prefer to investigate this myself, as I particularly detest this type of intramural sub rosa stuff and I think I know how to handle it."