Dr. Kenneth W. Smith to Dr. Leonard Bristol on an X-Ray Survey at the Jeffrey Mine (1966)

A one-page letter of August 22, 1966, from Dr. Kenneth W. Smith, J-M's medical director, to Dr. Leonard Bristol at Saranac Lake, New York. As "part of an over-all survey of asbestos workers," Smith asked Bristol to read the chest X-rays of all employees on the payroll at the Jeffrey Mine and plant in Asbestos, Quebec, about 2,500 people, as "an impartial consultant," and suggested a routine X-ray reading program starting by January 1, 1967. He wrote that whether the work went through Trudeau, the Saranac Lab, "or whatever organization is involved" made no difference "so long as you are the one to give us reports."

What it shows

Smith wanted to coordinate findings among U.S. workers with those in Canada, and he chose a reader he knew personally from the Saranac Laboratory circle. Bristol went on to read X-rays for J-M plants in the United States as well (Bristol to Jackson on Billerica X-rays, 1968; Jackson's review of the Bristol study, 1969).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Dr. K. Smith letter to Dr. Leonard Bristol (Saranac Lab), 8/22/66, soliciting Dr. Bristol to participate in an "over-all survey of asbestos workers." Dr. Smith asks Dr. Bristol if he would read the chest films of all employees presently on the payroll at J-M's Jeffrey mine and plant in Asbestos, Quebec. Dr. Smith states that he is not concerned whether the work is done through Trudeau, the Saranac Lab, or any other organization that "is involved" as long as Dr. Bristol is "the one to give us reports."