Dr. Paul Gross to Dr. Kenneth W. Smith Sending His Report on Joseph Kincel's Lung (1964)

A covering letter of July 9, 1964, from Dr. Paul Gross of the Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America to Dr. Kenneth W. Smith, Johns-Manville's medical director, enclosing three copies of his "Report of Examination of a Lung from Joseph Kincel" with photomicrographs. Gross says he will send the invoice in August, "after I have gotten your reaction to my letter of July 6." Handwritten notes record that the bill ($366) was mailed in October 1964 after Gross saw "Ken" at an asbestos meeting in New York. A second page is a note of July 7 from Gross's secretary sending him "the autopsy report for your approval before going to print shop," with his reply, "Corrections on Pg. 1 only."

What it shows

The enclosed report (not shown here) concerned a former J-M employee who had died of lung cancer. Gross concluded that the case was "primarily one of lung cancer," found only "rare asbestos bodies," and judged that the thickening of the lung walls was "not of the type associated with asbestosis." Because the man had severe chronic bronchitis and emphysema, Gross wrote that "the probability favors the assumption that the subject was a heavy cigarette smoker," though he did not know the man's smoking history, and that if this were confirmed it would explain the cancer.

About this copy

The file also holds the 8-page report itself, with its gross and microscopic description of the lung. Under the Library's privacy rule (no autopsy reports), those pages (3-10) are left out; only the covering letter and the secretary's note are shown.