Letters Received to Ms. Josephine Koteck, December 5, 1944

COPY FROM COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS 600 WEST 168TH STREET, NEW YORK DELAMAR INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC HEALTH December 5, 1944 Miss Josephine Koteck, 272 Beale Avenue, Leechburg, Penn. Dear Miss Koteck: Miss Hilda Gunther told me about the lutter you wrote about the fear your family has that you were poisoned by radium and that you might pass this poison condition on to the other members of your family. Miss Gunther called me up and I have looked over your record. We first examined you on June 21, 1943 for pre=employment and again on March 9, 1944 for a yearly examination. At your pre+employment examination your blood picture was not as good as it should have been but on Morch 9, 1944 your blood picture had improved very much. You showed a hemoglobin of 83.5%; white bloodcount- 3,050; red blood The x-ray picture was negative. My test to see whether you had any radium in your body showed that you were also negative and that you have not ingested any of this material. Therefore, you cannot have radium poisoning. There is no danger whatever of anyone contracting radium poisoning from you because you are not radioactive and have no radium in your body Even if you had radium in your body you cannot poison a person who comes in contact with you at any time or in any manner. Furthermore, your clothes would not poison anyone who handled them or whose clothes came in contact with your clothes. Because of these facts you can assure your mother or any other member of your family that there is no d langer of their contracting radium poisoning from you by coming in contact with you personally or handling your clothes in any manner what so ever. I have seen practically all the cases of radium poisoning which have occurred in this country. I have been in contact with the family of the girl who had radium poisoning and have never known of anyone who felt they had a chance of contracting radium poisoning. I have examined the children of girls who had radium poison- ing who married after they left the occupation and have