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mesothorium was added to the basic sine sulphide mechanically, and the amount
varied from one (1) part in 140,000 to one (1) part in 33,000.
Inaszuch as it was not a loaded brush which was "pointed", but the
dry brush, it is obvious that at the worst the amount of radio-active zine
sulphide that could be ingested per day would be very small. However, as
small as this amount rust have been we have found a few cases where the
system has absorbed some of the radioactive constituents and it has been depos-
ited throout the bony skeleton. The deposit of this material has persisted
after a period of several years, and it is now the theory that the continued
action of the alpha particles from the radioactive materials so deposited has
been the cause of many of the conditions reported among these employees.
In 1925, two cases that were diagnosed as suffering from the result
of their employment by us brought suit for damages, and were sottled.
In
June, 1928, there was a group of five cases, which had been given wide pub-
licity, thru their efforts in endeavoring to obtain redress, by the press,
these were also settled. These cases you probably are more or less familiar
with thru such publicity, and the information which I gave you.
lie are now confronted with building a defense in four (4) more cases
that have been instituted against us. In this connection they charge us with
contributory negligence, in that we did not provide proper precautions for
these employees during the periods of their employment from 1916 to 1924.
They claim that it was common knowledge at that time that even amall amounts
of radioactive materials taken into the system was deleterious, and that it
was well known, and that we should have been aware of it.
On the contrary
we maintain that there was no reason why we should have been suspicious that
even though very minute amounts had been ingested that there was any possib-
illity of hazard arising from the practice. This conclusion was based prim-
arily upon the fact that during this tine radium chloride was administered
internally for certain conditions under medical supervision, and that there
had nover been reported in the literature any untoward effects resulting
from this practice. We further maintain that even though we had been aware
that suall amounts of luninous aine sulphide were being ingested daily we
should not have viewed this with any particular alarm, due to the fact that
the radium or mesothorium, as the case night have been, was percipitated upon
the surface of the aine sulphide in an insoluble form - that is, the sulphate,
and knowing that radium sulphate is one of the sost insoluble inorganic com-
pounds known vre should have felt a certain amount of confidence that the
material woudd of necessity pass thru the alimintary tract without any
appreciable amount being absorbed.
It is in this connection that we are soliciting your aid, for as I
pointed out our counsel is anxious to establish before the court that up to
and including 1925, the medical profession did not consider the internal use
of radium befraught with any hasards either immediate or latent.
The fact that you administered radium chloride internally as late
as 1925, and even later, and that you did not consider it hazardous in any
way will be of great value to us in establishing this point.
In this connection we should like to have you review the records of
the cases you treated at Sichigan, for it is quite probable that our attorneys
would like to bring out somo of these cases apecifically.
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Document data
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DTO data
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"ocrText": "-2-\nmesothorium was added to the basic sine sulphide mechanically, and the amount\nvaried from one (1) part in 140,000 to one (1) part in 33,000.\nInaszuch as it was not a loaded brush which was \"pointed\", but the\ndry brush, it is obvious that at the worst the amount of radio-active zine\nsulphide that could be ingested per day would be very small. However, as\nsmall as this amount rust have been we have found a few cases where the\nsystem has absorbed some of the radioactive constituents and it has been depos-\nited throout the bony skeleton. The deposit of this material has persisted\nafter a period of several years, and it is now the theory that the continued\naction of the alpha particles from the radioactive materials so deposited has\nbeen the cause of many of the conditions reported among these employees.\nIn 1925, two cases that were diagnosed as suffering from the result\nof their employment by us brought suit for damages, and were sottled.\nIn\nJune, 1928, there was a group of five cases, which had been given wide pub-\nlicity, thru their efforts in endeavoring to obtain redress, by the press,\nthese were also settled. These cases you probably are more or less familiar\nwith thru such publicity, and the information which I gave you.\nlie are now confronted with building a defense in four (4) more cases\nthat have been instituted against us. In this connection they charge us with\ncontributory negligence, in that we did not provide proper precautions for\nthese employees during the periods of their employment from 1916 to 1924.\nThey claim that it was common knowledge at that time that even amall amounts\nof radioactive materials taken into the system was deleterious, and that it\nwas well known, and that we should have been aware of it.\nOn the contrary\nwe maintain that there was no reason why we should have been suspicious that\neven though very minute amounts had been ingested that there was any possib-\nillity of hazard arising from the practice. This conclusion was based prim-\narily upon the fact that during this tine radium chloride was administered\ninternally for certain conditions under medical supervision, and that there\nhad nover been reported in the literature any untoward effects resulting\nfrom this practice. We further maintain that even though we had been aware\nthat suall amounts of luninous aine sulphide were being ingested daily we\nshould not have viewed this with any particular alarm, due to the fact that\nthe radium or mesothorium, as the case night have been, was percipitated upon\nthe surface of the aine sulphide in an insoluble form - that is, the sulphate,\nand knowing that radium sulphate is one of the sost insoluble inorganic com-\npounds known vre should have felt a certain amount of confidence that the\nmaterial woudd of necessity pass thru the alimintary tract without any\nappreciable amount being absorbed.\nIt is in this connection that we are soliciting your aid, for as I\npointed out our counsel is anxious to establish before the court that up to\nand including 1925, the medical profession did not consider the internal use\nof radium befraught with any hasards either immediate or latent.\nThe fact that you administered radium chloride internally as late\nas 1925, and even later, and that you did not consider it hazardous in any\nway will be of great value to us in establishing this point.\nIn this connection we should like to have you review the records of\nthe cases you treated at Sichigan, for it is quite probable that our attorneys\nwould like to bring out somo of these cases apecifically."
}