PASSIVE SMOKING DOES CAUSE LUNG CANCER; DO NOT LET THEM FOOL YOU

The results of this study, which have been completely misrepresented in recent news reports, are very much in line with the results of similar studies both in Europe and elsewhere: passive smoking causes lung cancer in non-smokers. The study found that there was an estimated 16% increased risk of lung cancer among non-smoking spouses of smokers. For workplace exposure the estimated increase was 17%. However, due to the small sample size, neither increased risk was statistically significant.

¶224460-4461 (US 79174).

Another major purpose and function of the IEMC was to select and fund scientific studies to generate findings favorable to the industry's position that ETS was not a proven health hazard. For example, the Hazleton exposure studies described above, funded by Defendants through CIAR, were directed by the IEMC. 2023522351-2352B at 2352B (US 75127). The Japanese Spousal Study conducted by BATCO's Proctor and industry consultant Peter Lee was also directed by IEMC in order to obtain industry-favorable results. 300512244-2245 at 2245 (US 67752).
A June 8, 1994 presentation by Philip Morris's Richard Carchman to the IEMC stated that IEMC-proposed exposure and confounder studies were to "be organized by and funded through CIAR." Carchman described four studies: two confounder studies by CIAR SAB member Genevieve Matanowski, the Hazleton project, and the ORNL16-Cities Study. The objective of the projects was to generate data for use with both scientists and policymakers in 1994 and 1995. 2505443991-4000 (US 22202).
The IEMC agreed that once the Hazleton Project and the Japanese Spousal Study were completed, industry ETS consultants would be told by Covington & Burling "to spread the scientific word on the new scientific info" from the two projects. 2501003237-3242 at 3242 (US

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The industry has also tried to discredit the IARC study results when addressing regulatory authorities. For example, Philip Morris's testimony before the National Toxicology Program (NTP) sought to use its misrepresentation of the IARC ETS study as the basis for its argument that the NTP lacked sufficient evidence to classify ETS as a carcinogen. 770007956-8214 at 8179 (US 88132) (citing 2063594507-4508 (US 27115)).

(6) The Global ETS Consultancy Program 3601. The ETS Consultancy Program was a worldwide network of consultants and

¶organizations recruited to speak on behalf of the industry to influence public opinion, government officials, and scientists. As described below, Defendants created the ETS Consultancy Program to attack and discredit the scientific consensus and underlying evidence that passive smoking was a health hazard.

(a) Establishment and Goals of the ETS Consultancy Program 3602. One objective in creating and implementing the ETS Consultancy Program was

¶simply to "keep the controversy alive" by attacking the scientific consensus that ETS was a health hazard. 321140944-0949 at 0944 (US 20586); 2021181803-1812 at 1803 (US 22155); 2047720166-0173 at 0169; (US 23966); 321091680-1729 at 1685 (US 28271).

Creating and maintaining a controversy in the media and in the scientific literature allowed Defendants to continue arguing that ETS was not a proven health hazard. Director of Science & Technology Helmut Gaisch explained in an April 19, 1988 Philip Morris document titled "ETS Plan and Budget for the years 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991" how the consultants would serve this aim:

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Objective for S&T [Science and Technology]: To organise and support scientific work on a continuous basis leading to results which are published in the scientific literature and reported at public scientific events. . . . This will enable the continued use of the argument: there is no convincing scientific evidence that ETS is a health risk for non-smokers. Scope: Management of experts as scientific spokespersons Management of extramural research projects Support of international scientific events

¶2501152297-2300 at 2297 (US 89558).

Starting in the mid-1980s, the Tobacco Institute, with the assistance of outside attorneys at Shook, Hardy & Bacon and Covington & Burling, began the consultancy program in the United States. 2081369202-9220 (US 27796); TIMN435220-5272 (US 21734); TIDN0019217-9268 (US 85597); TI01140124-0133 at 0129 (US 62100).
After the June 1987 "Operation Downunder" meeting, Defendants expanded their consultancy program to train and deploy scientists worldwide. 2028343858-3860 at 3858 (US 75086). Defendants referred to these efforts in the United States and globally as the ETS Consultancy Program, which continued well into the 1990s.33 See 2500048635-8640 at 8639 (US 20550); 2071027438-7442 (US 40371) (1992-93); 2078462906-2909 at 2906 (US 75367) (1998-99).
The ETS Consultancy Program, also called the "Whitecoat" project in many documents, ultimately sought to "resist and roll back smoking restrictions" and "restore smoker confidence" in all of Defendants' markets. 2501254705-4708 (US 75267). To do this, the industry recognized it had to undermine the scientific evidence demonstrating ETS was hazardous to nonsmokers and restore the social acceptability of smoking. 2023542519-2522 at 2519 (US 23677);

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In a February 17, 1988 memo, BAT scientist Sharon Boyse (Blackie) described the

¶ETS Consultancy Program:

In every major international area (USA, Europe, Australia, Far East, South America, Central America & Spain) they are proposing, in key countries, to set up a team of scientists organized by one national coordinating scientist and American lawyers, to review scientific literature or carry out work on ETS to keep the controversy alive. They are spending vast sums of money to do so, and on the European front Covington & Burling, lawyers for the Tobacco Institute in the USA, are proposing to set up a London office from March 1988 to coordinate these activities.

¶321140944-0949 at 0944 (US 20586).

Sharon Boyse (Blackie) again described the scope and success of the effort in a July

¶1991 review and summary of the consultancy program:

The industry in the US . . . has had a huge programme to develop independent witnesses or consultants on ETS-related issues, for media as well as for legal and scientific purposes. It is believed by the US industry that this wide availability of independent witnesses has been critical in their track record to date of defeating approximately 90% of all state initiatives to legislate on smoking restrictions.

Defendants' intent was to influence "three audiences": "the scientific community, regulatory authorities, and the general public." 2501474253-4259 at 4258 (US 22017).

(b) Defendants' Implementation of the ETS Consultancy Program: Recruiting, Training, and Educating the Consultants

Defendants and their lawyers created and trained a network of scientific consultants and academics to critique or research findings suggesting that secondhand smoke caused adverse health effects, and to divert attention away from ETS to the issues of indoor air quality and ventilation.

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A Helmut Gaisch memo, titled "Proposal for the Organisation of the Whitecoat

¶Project," described the program:

Pro-active element: a) to generate a body of scientific and technical knowledge in the field of ETS within the PM EEMA and EEC markets. The Project's activities and programmes will include fundamental research, IAQ and IAQ studies. These will be undertaken by whitecoats, contract laboratories and commercial organisations such as ACVA.

b) to disseminate and exploit such knowledge within specific communications programmes in these markets.

¶2501254705-4708 at 4705 (US 75267).

BATCo's Sharon Boyse (Blackie) summarized the recruiting process in her February

¶1988 memorandum in these terms:

The consultants should, ideally, according to Philip Morris, be European scientists who have had no previous connection with tobacco companies and who have no previous record on the primary issue [active smoking] which might, according to [Covington & Burling attorney David] Remes, lead to problems of attribution. The mechanism by which they identify their consultants is as follows: they ask a couple of scientists in each country . . . to produce a list of potential consultants. The scientists are then contacted by these coordinators or by the lawyers and asked if they are interested in problems of Indoor Air Quality: tobacco is not mentioned at this stage. CVs are obtained and obvious "anti-smokers" or those with "unsuitable backgrounds" are filtered out. The remaining scientists are sent a literature pack. . . . They are asked for a genuine opinion as independent consultants, and if they indicate an interest in proceeding further, a Philip Morris scientist makes contact.

Philip Morris then expect the group of scientists to operate within the confines of decisions taken by PM scientists. . . .

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¶321140944-0949 at 0944 (US 20586); see also 300538976-8999 (US 88778).

In the words of David Remes, the lawyers were entrusted to locate a "corps of scientific consultants and engineers in each market" around the world. Covington & Burling and consultants in the United States were given the task of "weeding out unsuitable candidates." A particular problem was consultants who had ever expressed an adverse opinion on active smoking:

Candidates who have made public statements adverse to the industry on the primary health issue generally are avoided, lest those statements be attributed to the industry if those candidates were retained as consultants on the ETS issue.

¶2501474253-4259 at 4256 (US 22017).

Defendants often recruited consultants who had very little or no expertise in smoking and health issues. Defendants then educated and trained them.
For example, a March 9, 1987 Philip Morris memorandum from Arjuna Kannangara to Mary Pottorff provided an update of recruiting efforts in Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland. Kannangara wrote that in order "to influence expert opinion" and "popular attitudes," the "strategy" was to:

[R]ecruit and educate "consultants" to operate as credible third-party spokesmen in environmental toxicology and ETS (comparable to John Rupp/Indoor Air Pollution Advisory Group -- IAPAG).

¶2023541666-1668 (US 23675).

A January 25, 1988 letter from Rupp to Gaisch and Philip Morris Europe counsel Bradley Brooks referred to consultants obtained by the industry in the ETS Consultancy Program as "'whitecoat' recruits." Rupp also described a March 1988 meeting of the Nordic consultants for "training and further orientation": "Our goal is to leave the March training/orientation session with seven scientists . . . completely cognizant concerning the science of environmental tobacco smoke and prepared to share that knowledge with others at the industry's request." 2501474296-4301 at 4296-4297 (US 27955).

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The Asia ETS Consultancy Program was set in motion in 1989, based on the model already in place in the United States and Europe. 2500048655-8662 (US 27900); 2500048643-8654 (US 22857); 2500048508-8515 (US 20549); 2500048976-8998(US 23007). None of the consultants in the Asia Program had expertise or experience in ETS. 2500048655-8662 (US 27900).
The April 10, 1989 Asia program status report detailed the consultant selection process. The document described how the Covington & Burling attorneys would make contact with a potential consultant, but withhold their affiliation with the tobacco companies. The attorneys would then give him or her a "packet" of ETS materials for review and comments. The researcher's potential as a consultant was then determined by review of these comments. The report noted that at least one promising consultant (Roh) needed "educating" on the industry's "misclassification" argument. Another consultant (Liao) would serve as a "buffer" between a high-visibility consultant (Koo) and Covington & Burling to provide a further layer of insulation from the industry. A two-day training session to educate the consultants on the relevant literature (provided by Covington & Burling) was scheduled for June 1989 in Bangkok. 2500048643-8654 (US 22857).

In the September 27, 1989 Asia program status report, Rupp noted: We have not asked any of our Asian consultants to act as presenters but instead have requested that some of them participate in selected panel discussions. The symposium presents an ideal opportunity to expose the Asian consultants to the full range of issues and the most advanced current thinking on ETS and should bolster their confidence substantially. As the panel discussions will be transcribed and published alongside the keynote presentations, McGill [the McGill

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Symposium in 1989] will mark their first appearance in the scientific literature on ETS.

¶2500048508-8515 at 8509 (US 20549). Later in the February 1990 status report, Rupp reiterated:

¶"One key objective of the project has been to recruit and educate scientists who would then be available to testify on ETS in legislative, regulatory, or litigation proceedings in Asia or elsewhere."

¶Rupp then listed the various activities already undertaken by the Asia consultants on behalf of the industry, including distributing the McGill "symposium" proceedings, participation in scientific conferences and a public health committee, serving on the IAI journal board (see infra), carrying out research, and various media appearances. 2500048976-8998 (US 23007).

The ETS Consultancy Program was subsequently exported to Latin America in 1991, with joint funding by Philip Morris (40%) and BATCo (60%). In the proposal from Sharon Boyse

¶(Blackie) to Rupp dated January 2, 1991, Boyse summarized what had already taken place in Asia:

The tobacco industry in Asia (BAT, PM, RJR and Japan Tobacco) has, for the past couple of years, been supporting a project to establish a consultancy group on ETS and related issues in the region.

In each country . . . one or more scientists have been identified whose background enables them to take a scientific interest in the issues surrounding debate on ETS. . . . The consultants meet regularly to discuss ideas and learn about ETS issues, and have the background to become experts on ETS in their country, and to carry out research if required. Many are influential members of the scientific community. . . .

As a result of the project, local experts on ETS are now available to provide consultancy services and to organize events and research. In many countries, positive media coverage of the issues has occurred, resulting in a decreased emphasis on ETS and increased attention to other environmental and indoor air pollution problems.

In order to ensure independence from the tobacco industry, the programme is managed by John Rupp of Covington & Burling, a

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Washington-based law firm. All funding arrangements and contact with scientists is arranged through this firm.

¶321673508-3525 at 3509 (US 28585).

Boyse then proposed to Rupp that an identical program be set up in Latin America. The project was projected to cost BATCo and Philip Morris $340,000 in the first year to recruit 14 consultants in five Latin and South American countries. Boyse wrote:

It is proposed to develop a similar programme in Latin America. . . . The programme would be managed by Covington & Burling. Overall manager of the project would be the responsibility of Mr. John Rupp, with associates such as Mr. Chris Proctor contributing to the recruiting and training of the scientists. . . . Covington & Burling and Philip Morris already have scientific contacts in South America who could be used as starting points for recruitment. . . . Once scientists have been recruited, training in ETS issues would take place at orientation sessions held at regular intervals with the participation of Covington & Burling. . . . Once scientists have some training, a programme of activities would be put together. . . .

¶321673508-3525 at 3510 (US 28585).

A July 24,¹⁹⁹¹¹⁹⁹¹ to 1995. This program studied the correlation between lifestyle and environmental exposures and major chronic illnesses, and the role of diet in cancers of the lung, oral cavity and bladder. 2046988683-8683 (US 85673); 2021630974-0975 (US 87371); 2046988682-8682 (US 85674). -1358- document, titled "Latin American Candidate Recommendations," listed consultant selections by Covington & Burling, and provided the details and qualifications of many scientists, but recommended only those who whose views had been verified. For example, Carlos Alvarez from Buenos Aires had "already consulted for the companies in lawsuits involving cardiovascular disease from ETS exposure. Clearly, he shares the industry view on this issue." Eduardo Gros not only smoked, but had previously worked with BATCo scientist Chris Proctor. Covington & Burling had verified that Osvaldo Fustinoni of Argentina "does not believe that ETS poses a major health risk." 2503001504-1519 (US 85542). On the other side, Morton Schienberg of Brazil was rejected because he and his wife "despise cigarettes and do not let anyone smoke in their house or around them." Covington & Burling rejected Dr. Rodrigo Villalba, a smoker, because he would not smoke "in front of his children or his patients because he believes ETS poses a hazard to them." Dr. Oscar Aldrey was not selected because he "believes that ETS is worse than mainstream smoke because it is not diluted by a filter." 2503001504-1519 at 1517, 1519 (US 85542).

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In addition to Covington & Burling, Shook, Hardy & Bacon attorneys also served as intermediaries between the scientists and the companies and oversaw the program. In a letter dated June 28, 1988 from Hoel to Todd Sollis of Philip Morris, Hoel wrote:

One of the most important roles assumed by SHB in the scientific development of the ETS issue is that of liaison between the researchers and sponsoring members of the tobacco industry. By facilitating communication among all parties involved, maximum cooperation can be achieved. This helps assure PM of a ready source of scientists prepared to address the ETS issue at public hearings and scientific conferences as needed.

¶2015007199-7207 at 7206 (US 20311).

An April 1990 Tobacco Institute "Management Plan Progress Report" documented that the Tobacco Institute continued to "identify and recruit academic researchers for the scientific witness program," another name for the consultancy program. TIMN194351-4398 at 4363 (US 87418).
Defendants, both individually and collectively (e.g., through the Tobacco Institute), monitored the direction of the ETS Consultancy Program. For example, Anthony Andrade at Philip Morris emphasized industry control over the consultant projects in a September 1991 memorandum:

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I believe we should recommend formal quarterly or semi-annual reviews of the Covington & Burling consultant program to ensure that resources are being appropriately allocated. For example, we need to be in a position to direct C&B to expend more of its resources on Eastern European matters if the problems in that area take a higher priority than ETS issues within the European Community nations.

¶2023856321-6328 at 6328 (US 22037).

In a March 14, 1990 "SECRET" document from Sharon Boyse (Blackie), titled "Far

¶East ETS Project Update," Boyse noted:

The priorities and budget for the programme were subsequently discussed at a meeting of representatives from supporting companies (BAT/B&W, Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Rothmans, and JTI) in Hong Kong on March 7th. Details of that meeting are now reported. . . . It was agreed that regular meetings of representatives from the five major supporting companies (BAT/B&W, PM, RJR, Rothmans, JTI) will be essential now that there are so many companies and countries involved. Setting of priorities and evaluating progress will of necessity be an ongoing process throughout the year. Meetings will therefore be held every 2-3 months in Hong Kong. Covington & Burling will continue to produce regular written report.

¶30541874-1876 at 1874 (US 85567).

¶(c) The Indoor Air Pollution Advisory Group